


The Road Forward

by kimurasato



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series), Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: M/M, Post Season 2, Spoilers, mature because there is a scene in there but i don't think it's enough to be explicit, post divorced au, think i got everyone listed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:53:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 47,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28199448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimurasato/pseuds/kimurasato
Summary: Post season 2. He was so blind to all the mistakes piling up right under his nose until the worst imaginable outcome came to past and left him with nothing. What could he possibly do now? Johnny doesn’t have the answers, but maybe there is one person who can help him figure out how to right all of his wrongs.
Relationships: Daniel LaRusso/Johnny Lawrence
Comments: 157
Kudos: 166





	1. Chapter 1

“So that’s it? You’re just going to walk away?”

Johnny groaned. He wasn’t drunk enough or hungover enough to deal with LaRusso and the stick up his ass attitude right now. “Just go away, LaRusso.”

“Those kids need you!”

Johnny turned, glowering darkly at LaRusso. “Yeah, they really looked like they needed me when they were acting like perfectly little soldiers in Kreese’s army. Or how about the fact that Kreese has them believing I failed them.”

“Then you have to fight!” LaRusso shouted, stepping into his space. “You have to make those kids see the truth about Kreese.”

Johnny shook his head. “You fight him. You have Miyagi-do.”

LaRusso’s face did a weird scrunched up thing, his jaw working side to side. “I thought you were better than this.” He stormed away, heading for his stupid Audi.

Johnny stood and watched him drive away. So what if LaRusso was mad at him? LaRusso was always mad at him. Everyone was mad at him. He fucked up bad this time. When he could no longer see the Audi, he raked a hand through his hair. Fuck. He needed to get away.

Johnny spared a glance across the courtyard. He heard Miguel had gotten out of the hospital a couple weeks ago, but Carmen still wasn’t speaking to him or allowing him to see her son. All he wanted was to apologize for everything that happened. He should never have allowed things to get as bad as they did. He never should have allowed Kreese back into his life or his dojo. His heart sank as he thought of Miguel recovering from his injury and returning to Cobra Kai and Kreese taking him under his wing. If Kreese got his hooks into Miguel, Johnny knew that really would be the end of everything.

Stomping into his apartment, Johnny grabbed a duffle bag and stuffed whatever clothes he could find into it. He already had the ticket ready, though up until this moment, he didn’t think he would go through with it. The whole idea was stupid. What did he think was going to come from it? But it was a way out of town for a while. Maybe he could just forget everything. Maybe he just wouldn’t come back. When he had everything he needed, he was out the door.

Waiting around at a crowded airport, he decided, was a shitty experience. The endless lines and shoving his way to the gate only to be forced to sit around for hours to board the plane was a slow torture he wished he could just skip past. He remembered why he never liked flying anywhere. The flight was no better. He had nothing to do, and the person sitting next to him was a talker. She was good looking, and maybe at another time, Johnny would happily try to charm his way into her panties. But right now, he wanted to drown himself in alcohol and hope it deafened him to her voice. He didn’t have alcohol. He only had a mind-numbing headache. And so much regret.

When the plane finally landed and he was able to get off the damn thing, Johnny grabbed his bag from the overhead compartment. Then he made his slow way off the plane. It was like no one had any urgency. They all shuffled along like they had all the time in the world. He stepped into the terminal and wondered, not for the first time since he got on the plane, if this was a good idea. Pulling out his phone, he sent a quick message, saying he arrived and was waiting at the airport.

The response came quickly, saying they were on their way and telling him where to go to meet up with them.

Johnny made his way to the exit, after getting turned around a few times. Why were airports designed to be like mazes? As he waited, he grew more and more certain that this was a terrible idea and he should turn around and leave. A car pulled up and stopped in front of him, and Johnny knew the option to leave was no longer on the table. The passenger’s side door opened, and someone stepped out.

“Johnny Lawrence!” Ali greeted with a beaming smile.

Yeah, Johnny was certain he couldn’t make a good decision to save his life. He smiled, though it probably looked more like a grimace.

“Honestly,” Ali pulled him into a hug, “I thought for sure you weren’t going to show up.”

“Almost didn’t,” he admitted as they pulled apart. He glanced around her and saw her husband through the still open door. The man, douchebag, smiled with a wave. Johnny nodded his head then turned his attention back on Ali. “Didn’t think you’d actually want me showing up.”

Ali tilted her head. “I wouldn’t have responded to your Facebook message if I didn’t want to see you again.” She sighed, shaking her head. “It’s been so long. You’ll have to tell me about everything you’ve been up to.”

Johnny huffed a laugh. “How much beer you got?”

Ali pursed her mouth. “Something tells me I should hide the beer.”

“Yeah,” Johnny nodded, “that’s probably a good idea.”

“Well, we should probably head off.” Ali walked around to open the trunk of the car, though Johnny didn’t think his single duffle bag really needed to go into it. “Once we get you settled in, you can tell us everything.”

“Oh, uh, I could just get a hotel room,” Johnny said, dropping his bag in the trunk.

“Don’t be silly! You’re only staying a couple of days, right? It seems like a waste to spend all that money on a hotel room when we have a spare room.”

“Right.” Johnny sighed as she slammed the trunk shut. Why did he always put himself in these stupid situations? He climbed into the back of the car while Ali got back into the passenger’s seat.

“So, you’re the great Johnny Lawrence.” Gregory the douchebag grinned back at him before pulling away from the curb.

“Sure,” Johnny replied, flicking his gaze to Ali. She still took his breath away. Her blonde hair was drawn back into a thick braid, and her eyes still had a fire in them. Johnny didn’t know what she saw in a boring ski instructor, or whatever Gregory did for a living.

“I don’t have anything to worry about, do I?” Gregory laughed, and Ali joined in like it was something they joked about all the time.

Johnny frowned, finding it less amusing. “Just here to visit an old friend.” Some of the laughter died in Gregory’s eyes, reflected in the rearview mirror, and Johnny tried not to smirk at that.

“Well, you’re looking great, Johnny.” Ali turned in her seat to look over her shoulder at him. “Do you still keep up with karate?”

Johnny rolled a shoulder. “Here and there.”

“Maybe you can teach me a couple of moves,” Gregory said.

Johnny liked the idea of having an excuse to punch him in the face. He didn’t miss the worried look on Ali’s face and knew he wouldn’t be laying a hand on Gregory.

The rest of the car ride was fairly boring. Johnny leaned back in his seat, staring out the window at the unfamiliar city shrouded by the night sky. Maybe he would crash into the guest bed as soon as they got to Ali’s house. He already felt the call of sleep. Ali and Gregory chattered in the front seats, fiddling with the radio, but Johnny stopped paying attention to them after a few minutes.

When they reached the house, Ali wanted to give him the whole tour. The house was as fancy as he remembered her parents’ house in Encino being. Unsurprising. She had a good job as a pediatric surgeon. Her parents were probably proud of her, and probably even prouder that she ended up with someone like Gregory rather than Johnny. Or LaRusso.

By the time they got to the guest room, Johnny just wanted to sleep, and he said as much.

Ali smiled sweetly. “Of course. We can talk more in the morning.” She gave a quick peck on the cheek then left him to settle into the guest room.

The room made him think of the few times he sneaked into Ali’s bedroom. It was all neat and orderly, a fancy spread on the bed and far too many pillows. He hated the room. It felt so impersonal. Not lived in. Obviously, since it was a guest room, but it still left him feeling completely out of place. He was like a dirty sock on the floor, tainting the otherwise perfect room. He did his business in the bathroom, threw on a pair of sweatpants, flipped off the lights, and crawled into bed. Maybe in the morning, he would wake up in his own bed, and this whole trip to Denver would be a dream.

Of course, it wasn’t a dream. And Johnny felt like he barely even slept. LaRusso’s stupid face kept haunting his dreams. That weird look he gave Johnny, like there was something he desperately wanted to scream in his face but for some reason held back. Johnny scrubbed his hands over his face as he sat up in the unfamiliar bed. What did that look mean? What did it matter?

Johnny pushed himself out of bed and headed down the hall to the bathroom. Why did he even come here? After he finished up in the bathroom, he found his way downstairs to the kitchen, somehow remembering where it was from the tour. Ali was already there, fixing up breakfast. Johnny cast a glance around the room.

“Where’s your boy toy?” He made his way over to the refrigerator, almost expecting to reach for a Banquet before recalling that this wasn’t his apartment.

“My _husband_ ,” Ali stressed the word, “went for a jog.”

Johnny bobbed his head, focusing his attention on the contents of the refrigerator. No beer. Great. He grabbed the orange juice.

“So, what is all of this, Johnny?”

He turned around, bumping the refrigerator door closed with his hip. “You’re the one who said we should meet up. You suggested I fly out here.” Johnny almost twisted the cap off the orange juice to start chugging it down but then opted to grab a glass from the cabinet. Good thing the doors had panes of glass or he would have had to fumble around searching for the right one.

Ali shook her head. “You’re the one that messaged me on Facebook.”

“To be fair,” Johnny poured himself a glass of orange juice, “I wasn’t even sure I should send that. Kind of happened by accident. I got bumped into while I was in the middle of debating sending it or not, and I guess I ended up pressing send. You sure took your time responding.”

“It’s been over thirty years. I was thinking over whether this was a good idea or not.”

Johnny turned to lean back against the counter as he drank his orange juice. “What did you decide?”

Ali sighed, turning over the sausage in one of the pans on the stove. She didn’t speak until she had moved to flipping over the omelet in the other pan. “I don’t know, Johnny. I guess it depends on what you want.”

Johnny studied her as he reached back to place his glass on the counter. She had her hair loose today, the blonde locks tumbling past her shoulders in gentle waves. Johnny expected to fall in love with her all over again when he saw her. In his head, a thought teased its way to the front of him coming in and sweeping her off her feet, and they would run away together. It was odd that he felt none of that as he stared at her. There was a nostalgic feeling, the wish to have what they once had together, but it was fleeting and quickly scattered away with the wind. He loved her once but not anymore.

“Did you ever love us?”

Ali snapped her head around, blonde hair bouncing. Lines creased her brow as she searched his face. “Why would you ask something like that? Of course, I loved you.”

Johnny shifted, folding his arms. “Really? I just remember a lot of fighting. And it didn’t take you very long to move on. You wouldn’t even give me the chance to talk to you again.”

Ali sighed, dropping her gaze as she flipped off the burners. “I did love you, Johnny. When we first started dating. You were amazing, and you treated me good.” She got down some plates, three Johnny noted, and divided up the omelet onto each plate. “But you changed. You were so obsessed with Cobra Kai, and you always wanted to fight. Everyone. Even me. It started feeling like you wanted to drive me away. And eventually, I couldn’t take that anymore. It was tearing me apart to always be fighting with you. Forgetting my birthday was just an excuse I latched onto to finally end it all with you.” She placed the sausages onto the plates then moved to take the toast from the toaster, slicing the three pieces into triangle halves. “We were no good for each other, Johnny.”

He walked over, taking one of the plates as Ali picked up the other two. “And LaRusso?”

Ali wouldn’t meet his eyes, a mild grimace on her face. She pushed past him, leading the way over to the kitchen table.

Johnny ground his teeth and followed after her. “Did you even like him? Or was he just a rebound to make yourself feel better?”

“Of course, I liked him!” Ali huffed, setting the plates down a bit too harshly. “He was a good kid and fun to be around. He made me laugh.”

“But you didn’t love him.”

Ali glared at him with that spark of fire he used to love so much. “Why do you care?”

Johnny rolled his shoulder. He really shouldn’t care. “Just seems a bit cruel. He practically worshipped the ground you walked on. And why wouldn’t he? You were the prettiest, most popular girl at school. And you actually deemed him worthy enough to talk to.” Johnny frowned. “And you were the only one who talked to him.”

Ali looked away, a hint of guilt shining in her eyes.

“Was there even a football player? Or was he just another excuse to break it off?”

“Shut up, Johnny.” Ali’s voice shook. “I wasn’t using him. I did like him. In the beginning. But then everything got awkward. I had all my friends, and even though I invited him to all the parties, he never really fit in.”

“So, you dropped him like yesterday’s news? Just like everyone else?” Johnny shook his head. He really shouldn’t have come here. Why was he even asking about any of this?

“I didn’t dump him just because of my friends. He wasn’t fitting in with me either.”

“And I did?” Johnny snapped. “I used to be a Reseda brat too, you know. I used to live in a shitty ass apartment, never knowing if we were going to be able to live there for another month because my mom was working herself to death just to make ends meet.”

“Johnny, you know that’s not what I meant.” Her voice softened, and sympathy lingered in her eyes.

“Whatever,” Johnny grunted, dropping into a chair at the table. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

Ali must have taken the hint because she sat down and asked, “So what have you been up to lately?”

Johnny stabbed his fork into a sausage and bit off one end of it. He knew the proper manners, years of it being beaten into him by Sid, but he didn’t care to put on a show of being a proper gentleman. That was never who he really was.

“I opened Cobra Kai.”

Ali’s fork clattered on the plate when it slipped from her hand. “Johnny, why would you do something like that?”

“Met a kid. He was getting harassed by some rich punks. He asked me if I would teach him.” Johnny shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Ali gave him a look, and Johnny could already guess what she was thinking. “Really, Johnny? Trying to atone for past sins with this kid?”

“It’s not always about LaRusso.” Johnny scowled. “I didn’t exactly get accepted into the Encino lifestyle when Sid married my mom. I had some of those same punks kicking my ass too. Why do you think I wanted to take karate so much? It looked badass, and I thought if I looked that badass and could kick some ass, those punks would leave me alone. And it worked. I made sure they knew not to mess with me again.”

“And then you became exactly like them.” Ali sniffed haughtily.

“Yeah, well, I was trying to teach them that the whole no mercy thing is bullshit if you’re fighting without honor,” Johnny grumbled. “Didn’t exactly do a lot of good.” His mouth pressed thin. Johnny threw the fork down and stood, pushing back the chair with a screech of the legs over tiled flooring.

“Johnny!” Ali jumped to her feet, placing her hands on his arms. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“I fucked up, Ali. I fucked up like I always do.” Johnny shrugged out of her hold and moved away from her. “You remember how dramatic we all were in high school. One small thing, and we blew it up until it felt like world war three. That’s one thing that certainly hasn’t changed from the eighties. My kids, LaRusso’s kids. They started a big fight at the school, and a lot of them got hurt. Miguel, the kid that wanted me to train him, he ended up in the hospital. Back injury. In a coma for days.”

Ali gasped and stared at him with watery eyes. “Oh, Johnny.”

“And they’re all against me now. I tried to teach them to be more honorable, not fight dirty, and that happened.” Johnny let a disgusted laugh. “Kreese sure knew how to get his claws into them.”

“Kreese?” Ali’s voice turned hard, and Johnny didn’t look at her.

“I don’t need to hear it. All right? LaRusso already chewed my ass out about it. I know. I should have listened to him from the start. But I kept thinking if I deserved a second chance, shouldn’t he? And, oh, did he know exactly what to say to get into my head to make me believe that. To make me think he _had_ changed. But, of course, he hadn’t. He was the snake in the grass LaRusso always said he was. He was just waiting for the perfect moment to strike and take over everything. And I let that happen. I was blinded to what was going on right under my nose.”

“And what do you plan to do now?”

Johnny spun around to face her, meeting the cold glare she shot him. “What?”

“I asked,” Ali stalked slowly toward him, planting herself right in front of him, “what you plan to do now. You brought those kids into this. You brought Kreese into their lives. And you’re going to do what? Run away?”

Damn it! Why was he thinking of LaRusso? He remembered how LaRusso had glared at him, just yesterday, saying basically the same thing to him.

“What am I supposed to do?” Johnny shouted. “Kreese has already won! He has Cobra Kai back. He has all the kids under his thumb. He won. There’s nothing I can do.”

“Figure something out!” Ali shouted. “Or do you want Kreese turning those kids into little assholes like he did with you and your friends?”

Johnny shook his head, stomping toward the door. “This whole thing was a mistake.”

“Is that all you do, Johnny? Turn tail and run away?”

“You want me to do something?” Johnny turned back on her, and Ali flinched away. “I can’t help them if I’m sitting around here, can I?” He headed back up to the guest room, slamming the door closed behind him. Shit! This was not how he expected things to go. Johnny raked his hands through his hair. Honestly, how else could it have gone? Like Ali said, it was always a fight with them. She was right. They weren’t good for each other. Johnny just never wanted to believe it until now.

He changed into fresh clothes then made sure he had everything shoved back into his duffle bag. The idea of having to wait around at the airport again in less than twenty-four hours didn’t sit well with him, but if he was lucky, he could catch the first flight out of Denver. Slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder, he left the guest room. Ali waited for him at the bottom of the stairs, her arms folded and her foot tapping on the floor.

“You’re leaving just like that?”

“Doesn’t seem like there’s much point in staying here.” Johnny walked toward the door, already pulling out his phone. Miguel tried to tell him how that whole Uber thing worked. Johnny still wasn’t sure about it. “We’ll just spend the whole time yelling at each other. That’s all we were ever good at doing.”

Ali sighed, like she was letting all the anger in her out with that one breath. “Fine. Let me take you to the airport then.”

Johnny wanted to tell her it wasn’t necessary, but it would be easier than figuring out the stupid Uber thing. He shoved the phone back into his pocket. “Fine.”

A few minutes later, they were back in Ali’s car and heading for the airport. They sat quietly through the whole trip, Johnny’s duffle bag at his feet. When they got there, he wanted to make a quick escape instead of having to wait on Ali to pop the trunk. It felt too long, the drive to the airport. Johnny was grinding his teeth by the time they finally pulled up in the drop off zone.

“I’m sorry this didn’t work out,” Ali said as Johnny reached for the door handle. “I thought we could put everything behind us.”

“Yeah, I did too.” Johnny pushed open the door, grabbing his bag. After getting out, he hesitated. “See you around, Ali.”

“Bye, Johnny.” She smiled sadly.

Johnny closed the door then walked into the airport without looking back.


	2. Chapter 2

A month passed since he went to visit Ali, and the only thing he knew for sure was that he planned on never taking another plane in his life. He still had no idea what he could possibly do against Kreese, even while Ali and LaRusso’s anger seemed to haunt him. “What do you plan to do?” they asked with fire in their eyes. “Those kids need you!”

Johnny shook his head as he sat on the edge of his bed. What could he even do? None of the kids wanted to talk to him. He even tried knocking on Miguel’s door. Carmen yelled at him to leave. She wouldn’t even listen to his apologies. He still couldn’t get Robby to meet with him.

A knock on his door pulled him from his groggy morning thoughts. It was soft, tentative, like whoever stood outside his apartment was scared of waking him up. Johnny sighed, grabbing a shirt to throw on. He stumbled for the door as he shoved his legs into a pair of worn jeans. Who the hell would be knocking on his door? No one in this damn place wanted anything to do with him. He almost pictured LaRusso standing beyond the door, face already twisted up with rage and another furious rant ready on his tongue.

Johnny tried to mentally prepare himself as he opened the door. The fury of words didn’t come. Johnny stared, mind blanking, as Miguel stood before him, shifting awkwardly, holding himself up a bit stiffly on his crutches.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Miguel snapped his head up to him, his eyes wide. “Sensei!”

Johnny groaned, pinching his nose. “Don’t call me that. I’m no one’s sensei.”

“You’re the only sensei I’ll listen to.” Miguel’s eyes shone with determination.

“What are you even doing here, Diaz? Your mom made it pretty clear she doesn’t want me anywhere near you after what happened.” Johnny glanced Miguel over, relieved to see his injuries had healed. Miguel was strong, a survivor, but the whole school fight should never have happened. Miguel should never have been nearly paralyzed. Johnny could see the slight pinch in Miguel’s face. He was still recovering, still needing physical therapy after the injuries he sustained, but he still stood there firmly in front of Johnny, staring him down.

“I’ve been trying to convince her to forgive you this whole time.” Miguel frowned. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, it was, Diaz. I failed you, and everyone else.”

Miguel gave a small shake of his head, careful not to move his neck too much. “You weren’t the one escalating the whole situation. Kreese was the one whispering in people’s ears, making them see friends as enemies. I shouldn’t have kissed Sam.” He grimaced. “Tory wouldn’t have gotten pissed off and gone after her if that hadn’t happened. But I shouldn’t have gone after Robby the way I did. I misread the situation when I got there. Robby told me what happened.”

Johnny jerked, his eyes widening. “You’ve spoken to Robby.”

Miguel nodded slowly. “Mom didn’t want me to go, but I knew things wouldn’t get better if we didn’t talk. Robby didn’t want to talk. At first. But eventually he agreed. I was a real idiot about everything. We all were, really, in the end.” He lifted his eyes to Johnny. “They’re taking over the school. Hawk, Tory, their little Cobra drones. Everyone’s scared of them. The few of us who don’t agree with Kreese, the ones who were Miyagi-do, we just try to steer clear of them. We don’t want this war anymore. We just want to survive school without any more injuries. We still want to learn karate. Just, you know, without the whole no mercy and picking unnecessary fights stuff.”

Johnny took it all in, his brain feeling like molasses, struggling to digest it all. Some of his students hadn’t turned against him? Miguel didn’t hate him? They still wanted to learn from him? But something nagged at his brain, something Miguel said. He lifted his eyes to him, squinting as he pinpointed what it was.

“You said ‘were.’ What do you mean ‘the ones who _were_ Miyagi-do?’ Aren’t they still?”

Miguel’s mouth gradually pulled downward, and he lowered his gaze. “You don’t know? Mr. L closed down his dojo right after the school fight.”

“What?” Johnny gasped, like the words were a punch that knocked the air from his lungs. That look on LaRusso’s face came rushing back to him, and Johnny realized he had tried not to scream this fact in his face.

“Yeah, I guess Mrs. L told him no more karate after seeing what happened to Sam.” Miguel sighed. “Not that it helped anything. They still got a divorce.”

“Wait. What?” Johnny massaged his temples. What the hell was going on? Maybe he was stuck in his own thoughts for too long, but nothing Miguel said was making any sense. Didn’t LaRusso have a perfect little marriage? Perfect little kids? Although, Johnny was certain his son was kind of a dick.

“Yeah,” Miguel said in uncertainty, perhaps realizing he had overshared. “I guess they’ve been on the rocks for a while. At least, that’s what Sam told me. She didn’t really say much else. Though I guess there are some changes going on with the dealership. I saw them putting up some new billboards. Mrs. L is on them instead of Mr. L.”

“Christ, Diaz!” Johnny rubbed at his forehead. “You can’t just come over and drop a bomb on me like this. What time is it? It’s too early for this shit.” Was this the whole reason LaRusso stormed over to his apartment that day? _Nice, LaRusso. Your life is turning to shit, so you think coming over to see someone who’s got it worse will make you feel better_. He shook his head. “If he got the divorce, why didn’t he just reopen Miyagi-do?”

Miguel shrugged, out of useful information. “I think the whole thing’s been pretty hard on him. Sam seems pretty worried about him though. And I probably shouldn’t have blabbed all of that.”

“Why is she so worried about him?”

“I really shouldn’t be talking about it.”

“You already started. Might as well finish.” Johnny leveled a glare on him, and Miguel gulped, knowing immediately that Johnny wasn’t going to accept any bullshit from him.

“Uh, right.” Miguel bit his lip. “Well, I guess, Mr. L has kind of ‘let himself go.’ According to Sam.”

Johnny narrowed his eyes, a deep furrow appearing in his brow. “What does that mean?”

“Uh, well,” Miguel trailed off then his eyes lit up. “Oh! I can show you!” He fished his phone out of his pocket. After some poking and swiping, he turned the phone toward Johnny.

Leaning closer, Johnny stared at the image on screen. It was definitely LaRusso. LaRusso with stubble on his jaw and his hair slightly messy. No longer in one of those ill-fitting salesman suits, LaRusso wore faded jeans and a flannel shirt over a loose T-shirt that must have been from when he was still in his twenties. Johnny swallowed. Other than the stubble, it was like looking at LaRusso back in high school.

“That’s supposed to be letting himself go?” Johnny looked up, lifting an eyebrow at Miguel. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but that image looked more like the real LaRusso than all the other times they had met since the dealership incident.

Miguel shrugged. “I guess because he usually dresses up nicer. You know, actually shaves and stuff.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “So, he’s more relaxed now. That’s not the same as letting himself go. Maybe you kids need to stop gossiping about an old man going through a divorce.”

“I guess,” Miguel murmured, looking at his phone like he was trying to see whatever Johnny saw in the picture of LaRusso. “So, what’s the plan, Sensei?”

“Plan for what? For LaRusso?” Johnny’s brow knitted, certain he missed something in the conversation. He swore the kids said stuff on purpose to confuse him.

“I meant about Kreese.” Miguel blinked. “I mean, we don’t want a war. But something needs to be done about him. He’s been trying to gather more and more students. Aisha even overheard Tory and Hawk talking about him wanting to convince Robby to join Cobra Kai when he gets out of juvie.”

“He’s not getting my son,” Johnny growled dangerously, and immediately regretted it when Miguel flinched away. “Sorry.” He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

Miguel shook his head. “No, I get it. He was your sensei. You know what he does to his students. I’m not surprised you’d want to keep Robby away from him.”

“That’s probably the only reason I’m glad he learned karate from LaRusso rather than me.” Johnny pointed a finger in Miguel’s face. “And you never mention that I said that.”

“Said what, Sensei?” Miguel gulped.

Johnny narrowed his eyes then nodded. “Good.”

“So,” Miguel said slowly, “is there a plan for Kreese?”

“Nothing yet.” Johnny frowned, leaning against the doorframe. “I need to do some thinking.” So far, sitting around in his apartment, and occasionally picking up the odd handyman job just to pay rent and get food, wasn’t doing much to help him get any ideas. Then he nodded and turned back into his apartment.

“Did you think of something?” Miguel trailed after him as Johnny headed to his bedroom.

“Not about Kreese.” Johnny grabbed his familiar duffle bag, recalling the last time he got it out. Visiting Ali turned out to be a disaster, but somewhere inside him, Johnny knew it would be. Maybe this would be a disaster too. Johnny wasn’t good at making the right decision. He shoved some clothes into the bag, frowning the entire time.

“Are you going somewhere?”

Johnny glanced over his shoulder, catching the worry in Miguel’s eyes. “Not for long. Just need to clear my head. I can’t think here.” When he looked around his apartment, all he could think about was his failures, his fuck ups, all the disappointment. He wouldn’t find any answers here.

“Where will you go?”

“I’ll have my phone, if you need to contact me.”

“Sensei, are you okay?”

“Getting there.” Johnny grabbed a few things from his bathroom, tossing them into his bag. “Just,” he turned back to Miguel who kept following him around like a lost puppy, “be the good kid your mom raised and keep your nose out of trouble.” He didn’t know if there was a way to get rid of Kreese. Maybe they could find a way to get Cobra Kai banned for life again, but Johnny didn’t relish the idea of seeing one of the kids getting choked out the way he had after losing to LaRusso.

“You’re kind of worrying me, Sensei.”

“Don’t worry so much, Diaz. We’ll figure something out.” Johnny gently ushered Miguel out of his apartment then locked the door. When he turned to Miguel, he stared seriously into his eyes. “Tell your mom I’m really sorry about everything that happened to you. I made her a promise, and I failed that promise. You got hurt, and that’s all on me. I never meant for any of that to happen.”

Miguel returned the look. “You’ll have to man up and tell her yourself.”

Johnny huffed, a smirk ghosting over his face. “Yeah, I guess I will.” He patted Miguel on the shoulder then walked over to his car. After he dumped his bag into the trunk, he climbed into the driver’s seat. He gave Miguel a quick wave, noting the worry still in his eyes, before he pulled out of his parking spot and drove away.

_This is a mistake_. But Johnny always ran full tilt into every bad idea he ever had. This time was no different.

He knew where to go, even without having to ask Miguel first. It was like he was running on autopilot. He drove, not even thinking about his destination until he was pulling up and parking outside the house with its fenced in garden that was like stepping into another world. After he climbed out of the car, he walked up to the gate. The sign was gone. Johnny frowned, resting a hand on the spot where it once hung. Then he pushed open the gate.

LaRusso was in the garden. Even if he no longer had students to train, he was apparently determined to keep the place well maintained. His pants were covered in grass and dirt stains as he knelt on the ground, ripping out bits of grass here and there. Sweat glistened on his tanned skin, and Johnny’s eyes followed a drop sliding down the back of his neck to the top of his shirt. Sleeveless, leaving his shoulders and arms bare.

“It’s fuck o’clock in the morning, and you’re already ass deep in yard work.”

LaRusso sat back on his legs and turned around, shooting a scowl at him. The stubble had grown in a little more from what the picture showed. “I’m surprised you’re not laying in a pool of your own vomit.”

Johnny’s mouth curled upward. “Come on, asshole.” He nodded his head back to the gate. “Get in the car.”

LaRusso narrowed his eyes, mouth set in a thin line. “What the hell? You think you can just roll up and order me around?”

“Either you get in yourself,” Johnny hunched his shoulders, “or I’m shoving your scrawny ass in there.”

LaRusso stood up, wiping his hands off on his pants. He stomped over to Johnny, still with that glare directed at him. “And why should I? Hm? Give me a reason to go anywhere with you?”

“You’re the one who yelled at me to fight Kreese.” Johnny stepped into LaRusso’s space, leaning his head in so close their foreheads nearly bumped into each other. “You want me to fight, then you have to fight too.” They held each other’s eyes, heat burning in the space between them.

“And what exactly are we doing?” LaRusso finally asked, but Johnny could already see he had made up his mind.

“There’s someplace I need to go first. Grab a bag, and we’ll go.”

A crease formed. “Why do I need a bag?”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Just go pack. One bag. My trunk isn’t that big.”

“I swear you’re the most annoying person in the world.” LaRusso walked off, heading into the house.

Johnny flicked his gaze down LaRusso’s backside before he turned and left through the gate. He sat in his car, leaning his head back against the headrest as he waited. LaRusso took his sweet ass time then came out of the house in a fresh pair of jeans and a striped button up shirt. He carried a bag over his shoulder as he walked to the car. Johnny popped the trunk for him. After he tossed his bag into the trunk, LaRusso slid into the passenger’s seat.

“Planning on telling me what we’re doing?” LaRusso slammed the door close.

Johnny grinned as he backed away from the house.

“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

“Too late to back out now.” Johnny watched the house fade away in the rearview mirror.


	3. Chapter 3

“I don’t know about this, Johnny.” LaRusso kept pacing around, biting at the skin around his thumbnail.

“Will you sit your ass down already?” Johnny kicked the chair next to him as he glared at LaRusso. “You’re giving _me_ anxiety.”

LaRusso scowled but dropped into the chair. Two seconds later, his leg was bouncing, and he was biting at his thumb again.

“Cut that out.” Johnny grabbed his wrist and yanked his hand away. He didn’t spot any blood, so LaRusso, at least, hadn’t broken skin yet. “It’s going to be fine.” He leaned back in his chair with a huff. “Chances are he won’t even see us.”

“Then why are we here?” LaRusso folded his arms, maybe in an attempt to keep from biting at his thumbnail again. “If he won’t see us, what’s the point?”

“Gotta try, right?” Johnny sat forward, leaning a forearm on the counter as he turned his body toward LaRusso. “Where’s that stubborn attitude of yours? I thought you wouldn’t want to leave until you got to see him.”

LaRusso kicked at the ground as his jaw worked. Then his glare was on Johnny. “He hasn’t wanted to see me. I don’t blame him.”

Johnny shook his head. But he didn’t get a chance to say anything more as the door on the other side of the room opened. He snapped his head around, staring through the pane of glass dividing the room. Robby stood in the doorway, dressed in the juvie clothing. His mouth pressed in a thin, grim line, and his eyes glared hard and cold. Johnny swallowed thickly. Too much time had passed since he saw his son, and he almost couldn’t believe Robby was actually standing there. A spark of hope sprung to life in his chest.

Robby walked over to the counter between the two sides of the room. He picked up the phone on his side, and Johnny hurriedly grabbed the one on his side.

“Thought you’d given up,” Robby said with a hard edge to his voice.

Johnny shook his head. “I’ve been wanting to see you this whole time.”

Robby’s gaze flicked to LaRusso before settling back on him. “You’ve got five minutes.”

Five minutes could feel like an eternity, but Johnny knew it would go by in a flash. “I’m sorry, Robby.” Johnny watched him, but Robby’s cold expression didn’t change. “I fucked up a lot, and you’re paying the price for it. All this bullshit should have ended thirty years ago. It never should have fallen on you kids. I should have done a better job of watching out for my students. I should have paid more attention. I should never have allowed Kreese anywhere near them. I,” he met Robby gaze, held it, and tried to show how sorry he was through his eyes, “should have been there for you. I love you so much, Robby. I want to be here for you.”

“And why should I trust you?” Robby shifted in his seat, leaning back, one arm wrapping around his waist as he kept the phone to his ear. “You’ve never been there for me when I needed it.”

“I know. I’m sorry for that. I know you won’t magically trust me. But I want to work to earn your trust.” The hope was dwindling inside him. “I’ll do whatever I can to be here for you.” Johnny didn’t promise. He knew his promises meant nothing.

“I won’t make it easy on you.”

“I don’t expect you to.” Johnny stared at his son, holding onto that little piece of hope. “Miguel said he spoke to you.” He could feel LaRusso’s eyes on him, but he ignored it.

“Yeah.” Robby frowned, dropping his gaze. “I didn’t want to see him at first. I didn’t want to face what I had done.” He picked at the hem of his shirt. “But he was insistent that we speak. We talked about everything that went down. I think we’re good now.”

Johnny bobbed his head. “That’s good. That’s how it should be. You kids are a lot smarter than us.” His mouth pulled in a half smile. He didn’t know where Robby got his smarts from, but he was glad his son was wiser than he was at his age. “You doing okay in there? No one’s giving any trouble?”

Robby rolled his eyes. “I think a bunch of them are scared of me.” He frowned. “Some of the tougher looking guys might be planning something, but I can handle it.”

“Don’t get yourself into any more trouble in there.” The alarm rushed through Johnny. He wanted to find those punks and make sure they understood not to mess with his son.

“I won’t.”

Johnny nodded then lowered his gaze. He wasn’t ready to bring up the next thing he had to ask, but he couldn’t leave without talking about it. “Miguel also mentioned Kreese wants to get you into Cobra Kai.”

“What?” LaRusso shouted, the rage barely contained in his voice.

Robby snorted. “Yeah, he visits sometimes. I met with him once and told him he could go suck his shriveled up dick. No way am I going anywhere near that place if he’s in charge.”

Johnny laughed, relief flooding him. He almost thought he would cry. “You really are so much smarter than I am.”

Robby shrugged his shoulders. “I had all your mistakes to look back on.”

“Well, at least they’re good for something in the end then.”

Robby’s eyes flicked again to LaRusso. “Um, can I talk to him?” He bit his lip.

Johnny could hear the hesitancy in his voice, like Robby was afraid he was going to say no. He nodded his head. “Of course.” He passed the phone over to LaRusso, who fumbled it with his brown eyes bugged out wide. “Hurry it up,” Johnny said when LaRusso kept staring at him. “We don’t have all day here.”

LaRusso held the phone up to his ear. “What did-” He snapped his mouth shut as Robby talked.

Johnny resisted the urge to lean in and try to hear what was being said. LaRusso nodded then shook his head a moment later.

“No, Robby, it’s not all your fault.” LaRusso’s voice was soft, but sadness hung heavy in his tone. “It was my fault. I let my own feelings get in the way.” He leaned forward on the counter, using one hand to cover the side of his face Johnny could see. “I shouldn’t have opened Miyagi-do.”

Johnny stiffened, snapping wide eyes to LaRusso. What the fuck did he say?

“No,” LaRusso shook his head, still keeping his face hidden from Johnny, “I don’t regret teaching you, Robby. I loved having you as a student.” There was warmth in his voice, but it didn’t outweigh the sorrow. “But I played into the war as much as Cobra Kai did.” He took a shaky breath. “I was no better. I shouldn’t have let my feelings toward Cobra Kai dictate how I trained you.”

Johnny glanced toward Robby. There was something in his green eyes, some kind of understanding. What did Robby know about LaRusso that Johnny didn’t?

LaRusso laughed at something Robby said. He pulled his hand away then rubbed at his jaw, brushing the back of his fingers over the stubble. “I was worried it looked bad.” His mouth curled upward then rolled a shoulder in a shrug. “It hasn’t been too bad. I just - Well, since I don’t have to worry about my appearance as much, it’s nice not having to get up and shave every morning.”

Johnny wondered about that for a second before recalling Miguel mentioning something about the billboards. He frowned at that. What did all of that mean for LaRusso?

“You - Really?” LaRusso asked, his eyes growing big again. “I don’t mind.” He flicked his gaze to Johnny as he chewed on his lower lip. “Yeah,” his head bobbed, “yeah, we’ll talk about it. Take care, okay?” Then he held the phone to Johnny.

After blinking a few times, Johnny took it. He held it to his ear, watching as Robby shifted in his seat beyond the glass.

“Um, thanks,” Robby mumbled, almost too quietly. “For coming by.”

Johnny bit back the smile threatening to split his face. “We’ll visit again.”

Robby nodded, almost smiling. “I’d like that.”

After their goodbyes were said, Johnny and LaRusso waited, watching as Robby was escorted out of the room. The door closed behind him, the sound ringing in the silence. After some minutes ticked past, LaRusso turned to him.

“So, what now?”

Johnny stood. “I could use a drink.” He could feel LaRusso rolling his eyes without even having to look at him.

“I thought you had some grand plan to fight back against Kreese.” LaRusso followed after him as they left the juvenile detention center.

They stepped outside. Daylight was already fading. It was too long a drive to make it back to Reseda. Johnny hadn’t planned on driving back there anytime soon though. He led the way to the car, but LaRusso didn’t open the door after it was unlocked. He frowned; eyes trained on the asphalt.

“Thanks,” LaRusso murmured, and Johnny stared across his car at him. “For bringing me along. You didn’t have to. I’m not sure Robby would have talked to me if you didn’t do this.”

Johnny yanked open the door with a roll of his eyes. “The kid loves you.”

LaRusso lifted his head, meeting Johnny’s eyes. “He loves you too.”

There was a weird feeling in the pit of Johnny’s stomach. He ground his teeth. “Just get in the car, LaRusso.” He dropped heavily into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind him. LaRusso was in the passenger’s seat a second later. “We’re grabbing a drink, and you’re shutting up until we get there.” He flipped on the radio, finding some good music, then drove away from the detention center. When he turned away from Reseda, heading in the opposite direction, he caught the confused glance LaRusso sent him. Thankfully, LaRusso didn’t voice any questions.

It was completely dark when Johnny pulled off the highway, finding some random town he didn’t bother to learn the name of. He could feel the tension rolling off LaRusso, but he ignored it. Not long after, he found a bar. They got out of the car and walked the block to the bar. It was fairly crowded already, and they had to push their way to the bar. Johnny waved down the bartender and ordered them two Coors.

“That’s not what-”

“I’m paying so you’ll drink whatever the hell I order,” Johnny cut him off with a sharp glare.

LaRusso huffed, leaning on the bar. “So,” he rested his chin in his hand, “what exactly are we doing? Is getting drunk part of the plan to stop Kreese?”

“I do my best thinking when I’m drinking.” Johnny grinned at the bartender, a pretty blonde who was definitely way too young for him. He grabbed the bottle she passed it to him and took a nice long pull from it.

“I doubt that.” LaRusso made a face but gulped down some of his beer.

“Look.” Johnny turned on the barstool to face him, their knees knocking into each other. “I don’t have a plan. Happy? But I’m sure between the two of us. We’ll come up with some kind of plan.”

LaRusso frowned as he set the bottle down on the counter. “So, you’re just planning on having me figure it all out.”

“No.” Johnny sneered. “I don’t plan on you doing all the work. Jesus, LaRusso. This was me actually trying to ask you for _help_.”

LaRusso blinked then turned his gaze away. He twisted the bottle around in his hands. “Oh.”

Johnny shook his head then chugged back more of his beer. They were silent for a long while as music pounded through the bar, not quite drowned out by the loud chatter of the people around them.

“I had really hoped you had a plan,” LaRusso finally said, and Johnny had to lean over to hear him.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t have any ideas!” LaRusso’s hand clutched around the bottle. “I don’t know how to beat someone like him.”

“Not surprised.” Johnny drank his beer as LaRusso snapped his glare onto him. He couldn’t take that look in LaRusso’s eyes. “You’re straightforward. An asshole, a lot of the time. But you don’t play that manipulation game. Sure. You went around behind me and got my rent hiked up. Dick move, by the way.” And LaRusso actually looked guilty. “But you don’t play with people’s minds. Not like Kreese does.” Johnny stared at his beer, frowning in consideration. “That’s no way to win, anyway. We shouldn’t stoop to dirty tactics like that.”

LaRusso nodded then tossed his head back as he chugged the rest of his beer. Johnny wrinkled his nose in an attempt not to smirk. Maybe LaRusso wasn’t as much the snob as Johnny had pegged him to be. LaRusso slammed the bottle down then waved the bartender down to order another round. They stared at the bar for a while longer. Johnny took his time finishing off his beer. He had to drive, after all. LaRusso, surprisingly, had no trouble downing beer after beer. Johnny paid for their drinks then had to pull LaRusso off the barstool and help him out of the bar.

“I can walk, you know.” LaRusso pushed away from him once they stepped outside. He stood and breathed in deeply, taking in the cool night air like it helped to clear the fog from all the beer he drank. When he took a step, he wobbled but managed to stay upright.

“Don’t blame me if you fall on your face.” Johnny rolled his eyes and headed for his car.

LaRusso managed to make it to the car without falling over. Maybe there was something to that whole balance thing LaRusso always rambled on about. He dropped into the passenger’s seat and slumped down slightly. Johnny smirked as he started the car. LaRusso was probably going to regret all those beers in the morning. After some searching, he pulled into the lot of a motel. Johnny left LaRusso alone in the car as he went in to get a room for them.

“Get up.” Johnny knocked on the window when he returned to the car, jolting LaRusso from lightly dozing off. He walked around to the back of the car to get their things out of the trunk as LaRusso climbed out of the car.

Before Johnny could grab both bags, LaRusso snatched up his own bag, throwing it over his shoulder. Johnny led the way to their room, around the back and up the stairs to the second floor. LaRusso stumbled once on the stairs, grabbing onto Johnny’s sleeve to steady himself.

“Are you sure you can walk on your own?” Johnny teased.

“Shut up.” LaRusso shot him a glare and shoved him to keep walking.

Chuckling, Johnny continued up the stairs. Their room was three doors down from the top of the stairs. He unlocked the door and pushed it open. LaRusso leaned on the doorframe, eyes sweeping around the room after Johnny flipped on the lights.

“You take me to the nicest places, Johnny Lawrence.” LaRusso turned to him with a dopey grin. His Jersey accent slipped out, sounding more like when they first met.

“Just get in the room.” Johnny nudged him forward. “You need to sleep off all that beer.”

LaRusso rolled his eyes, taking this bag with him into the bathroom. Johnny kicked the door shut and walked over to flop onto one of the beds. What the hell was he doing? Johnny still didn’t know as he stared up at the ceiling. The motel was pretty shitty. But what else did he expect from such a cheap room? The ceiling was stained with water damage. There was an odor Johnny couldn’t quite place and decided he probably didn’t want to think too hard about it.

After some time went by, LaRusso finally exited the bathroom. He had thrown on a pair of gray sweatpants and simple black tee. Mumbling something unintelligible, he shuffled his way over to the second bed. His bag thumped at the foot of the bed where he dropped. Then he crawled under the covers.

Johnny shook his head as he got up to use the bathroom. He stared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked exhausted. He felt that in his bones. But things didn’t look as grim as they had when he woke up that morning. Miguel still wanted him as a sensei. Robby actually agreed to speak to him. And LaRusso would help him figure out what his next move should be. Johnny smiled at his reflection. Maybe there was still time to fix all of his screw ups.


	4. Chapter 4

It was still dark out when Johnny woke. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering why he would wake up so damn early. The reason presented itself when he heard a sound coming from the other bed. He turned his head, frowning at the lump of LaRusso’s body under the blankets. Another whimper, and LaRusso suddenly shot up in the bed, panting heavily. After a moment, he climbed out of bed, wobbled, nearly tripped over something, then made his way to the bathroom.

What the hell was that about? Johnny stared at the bathroom. LaRusso didn’t even bother to close the door, or turn on the lights. Johnny heard the water running, followed by splashing. He listened, but no other sounds came from the bathroom. LaRusso came out of the bathroom a few minutes later.

“What was that about?”

LaRusso jumped. “Shit!” He placed a hand over his chest. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“Who could sleep with all that noise you were making?”

LaRusso snorted. “I wasn’t making noise.” He walked over to his bed as Johnny flipped on the lights. “Jesus!” He covered his eyes. “Warn a guy before you do that!”

Johnny sat up and pushed himself to lean back against the wall. “Seriously, LaRusso, what was that?”

“It’s nothing.” LaRusso climbed back into bed, turning his back on him.

“Right. Everyone just starts moaning and whimpering like they’re in pain while they sleep. Totally normal. Cut the shit, LaRusso.” Johnny glared at the back of his head. His mouth thinned as the silence stretched on between them. “Did your wife just ignore these little episodes?”

LaRusso rolled over, turning his head to shoot a glare at him. “ _Ex_ -wife.”

“Whatever.” Johnny shrugged. “What did she do? Just pat you on the back and tell you to go back to sleep? Or did she just sleep through them?”

LaRusso muttered as he sat up. “It was never an issue when we were married.”

Johnny’s brow knitted. “What does that mean?”

LaRusso bent forward, rubbing his hands over his face. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

“You woke me up.” Johnny folded his arms. “So we’re having this conversation now.” He watched LaRusso press his fingers to his eyes, keeping his mouth shut tight. “Look.” He sighed. “I know about nightmares. I,” he closed his eyes then shook his head, “still wake up sometimes. Usually when I haven’t drunk myself into a stupor. And I can’t breathe. I can feel Kreese’s arm around my throat. So whatever that,” he waved a hand in LaRusso’s direction, “was, you’re not the only with traumatic memories.”

LaRusso released a bitter laugh as his hands fell away. “Right. Kreese.” He frowned; his body still hunched forward. “This mess really is all my fault.”

His brow creased deeper as Johnny rolled the words around in his head. Then he turned, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

LaRusso sighed, tilting his head back to stare up at the ceiling. “You could have avoided that whole meeting with the All Valley Sports board if you had just changed the name.”

“Really, LaRusso?” Johnny frowned. “You’re going to tell me everything would be different just because of the name?”

LaRusso turned to him, a haunted look in his brown eyes. “Would Kreese have returned if you had called it something other than Cobra Kai?” His mouth pressed into a thin line, and his fist gripped his blanket tight enough to turn his knuckles white. “I knew that bastard couldn’t be dead. I knew better than to fall for that again.”

“Again?” Johnny shook himself.

“Why was it so important to call it Cobra Kai?” A hint of fury cracked through LaRusso’s voice.

So that was how it would be. LaRusso would just ignore his questions. Johnny shook his head. “I don’t know. Despite all the shit with Kreese, Cobra Kai was still a place I had considered a home for so long. It was the place where I felt like I finally belonged. I didn’t pick the name because of Kreese.”

LaRusso nodded, lowering his gaze. Slowly, his hands unclenched and released the blanket. “I told the board there could be problems with the name. I showed them there was still a copyright on the name. They blew me off. If Kreese was dead, they thought it wasn’t an issue. A dead man can’t sue for copyright infringement, or some shit like that.”

Johnny’s head was spinning. “What?” He launched out of his bed and stomped over to stand over LaRusso. “You knew about that, and you didn’t tell me shit about it?”

LaRusso glared up at him. “Maybe I should have. But would you have fucking listened to me, Johnny? Would you have taken my advice without thinking I was somehow trying to sabotage your dojo? We weren’t exactly on good terms at that point in time.”

Johnny’s mouth twitched, his lip drawing back in a snarl. His hands curled into tight fists. “You could have still tried.” His voice shook with his anger.

LaRusso rose slowly from his bed and planted himself in front of Johnny. “You don’t think I haven’t regretted not saying anything this whole time? I know I should have told you. I know I should have tried to get through that stupid thick skull of yours. But I didn’t. And now we’re here.” They were standing close with their anger practically vibrating in the small space between them.

“So Kreese holds the copyright to the Cobra Kai name.” Johnny struggled to push down his anger. LaRusso had fucked up. But Johnny had fucked up too. The past couldn’t be changed. Even if he wanted to punch LaRusso, it wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t help them figure out a way to stop Kreese.

LaRusso nodded. “Yeah.” He sighed, some of the anger tapering off. “What about the lease? If you hold the lease to that space, you should be able to kick him out.”

Johnny grimaced. “I had a handshake deal with Zarkarian.”

“A - Johnny, what the hell?” LaRusso shouted.

“I know,” Johnny growled out. “It was stupid. But I didn’t exactly have a lot of options. You,” he jabbed a finger into LaRusso’s chest, “got my rent raised. I could barely make what we originally agreed upon when I made the deal with him. Did you really think I had an actual lease drawn up with him?”

LaRusso bowed his head, rubbing at his temples. “Great. Just fucking great, Johnny. Kreese has the copyright to the name, and I’m guessing he went behind your back to get an actual lease on the place.”

“Yeah, we both fucked up royally here.”

“Yeah, we did.”

“So, what do we do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answers, Johnny.” LaRusso dropped heavily onto his bed. “Mr. Miyagi would know what to do. He always knew what to do. He always had the answers. But I’m not him. I don’t know what to do. I just make everything worse.”

“Stop the self-pity party, LaRusso. I already do that enough for the both of us. And I’m pretty sure I fuck shit up worse than you ever have.”

“Quite the pair we make, huh?”

Johnny sighed as he sat down next to him on the bed. “Yup. Just two fifty-year-old fuck ups.” He leaned back on his arms. “So, are we going to keep fucking up? Or are we finally going to do something right?”

“We have to stop Kreese. That’s the important thing to focus on right now. Those kids don’t need to repeat our mistakes.”

“We can at least agree on that.” Johnny stood. “Get dressed.”

“What?” LaRusso snapped his head up.

Johnny glanced toward the window. The curtains were parted enough for him to see the first rays of the sun. “I’m hungry. Let’s check out and go grab some breakfast.” He snatched up his bag and walked to the bathroom. Once the door shut, he leaned back against it, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. This was not how he expected his morning to go after feeling so good about things last night.

A frown settled into place as Johnny pushed away from the door. That asshole! LaRusso completely distracted him from the original question. What kind of nightmare did LaRusso have? Johnny pondered the question as he went about his business in the bathroom. He blabbed about his own nightmares involving Kreese, and LaRusso couldn’t even do him the courtesy of doing the same. Fine. Whatever! Their focus should be on getting the kids away from Kreese anyway.

When Johnny exited the bathroom, LaRusso was already dressed with his things packed away. He looked like crap with bags under his eyes. His age, for once, showed through the youthfulness of his face. He pushed past Johnny on his way to use the bathroom before they left. Johnny gave the room a quick check to make sure he hadn’t somehow left something lying around. His mind kept replaying their conversation, searching for any clues to explain what the hell was going on with LaRusso.

The bitter laugh when Kreese’s name came up.

Again? What did “again” mean?

LaRusso didn’t suffer these nightmares while he was still married. Why was he having them now?

Johnny wanted to punch something in his frustration and lack of understanding. He settled from grinding the knuckles of one hand into the palm of the other.

“Ready to go?” LaRusso asked when he stepped out of the bathroom, carrying his bag over one shoulder.

Johnny nodded, getting up from the bed. They left the motel room. LaRusso waited in the car as Johnny went into the main office and checked them out, returning the room key. Johnny slid into the driver’s seat, and LaRusso was rubbing at his head.

“Regretting all those beers you chugged down last night?” Johnny smirked at the scowl LaRusso shot him. “I’m surprised you were even able to stand after that.”

LaRusso snorted. “Please. Mr. Miyagi’s sake was way stronger than that stuff.” He laughed. “He was not happy when I snuck some of it.”

“Wow.” Johnny laughed, scanning the streets as they drove around the town. “Never took you to be a bad boy, LaRusso.”

“Because you never tried to learn anything about me.”

Johnny rolled his eyes at the smirk on LaRusso’s face. When he found a Denny’s, he pulled into the parking lot. “It’s not like you tried to learn anything about me either.” He got out of the car, and LaRusso followed him.

“And when was I supposed to?” LaRusso asked as they were led to a table and given menus. “While you were kicking my ass? Or after the tournament when you just disappeared?”

Johnny glanced over the menu, pointedly not looking at him. “Would you have even wanted to talk to me after the tournament?”

“I don’t know.” LaRusso huffed, throwing himself back against the booth seat. “Maybe? I thought - I don’t know. It felt like there was some kind of understanding between us. When you handed me the trophy.” He frowned at the menu. “But then the parking lot happened. And then I never saw you at school.” He flicked his gaze up at the same time Johnny did. LaRusso bit his lower lip, and Johnny shifted. “Where did you go?”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “I didn’t go anywhere. We just never crossed paths.”

LaRusso opened his mouth, but at that moment, the waitress came up to their table.

“What can I get you?” she asked, putting on her customer smile. They both took another couple of minutes before ordering and handing back the menus.

“Johnny,” LaRusso started as soon as the waitress left.

“Just drop it, LaRusso. It’s not important.” Johnny leaned back, throwing his arms over the back of the booth seat as he turned his head to stare at the window.

“You’re the one who brought up not knowing stuff about each other.” LaRusso huffed, leaning folded arms on the table. Then he made a face, lifting his arms and rubbing at his forearms. “And what are we even doing here? How is this helping anything? We should be back in Reseda. Figuring out how to stop Kreese.”

“We weren’t figuring out shit back there. That’s what we’re doing. We’re getting away, clearing our heads, and hopefully at the end of this, we’ll have an answer.” Johnny glanced back as the waitress came back to drop off their order, setting plates and glasses in front of them. He watched her leave again then turned back to LaRusso. “And you really want to know why I wasn’t at graduation? It’s because my fucking stepdad decided to beat the shit out of me the night before, and I didn’t want to show up with bruises all over my face.”

LaRusso’s mouth worked up and down then he lowered his gaze. “I’m sorry.” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have pushed.”

“Whatever.” Johnny tore the pancakes in ragged semblances of triangles. “He was an asshole, and I was glad when I could finally get the fuck out of that hell house.”

“I had no idea.”

“I was pretty good at making sure no one had any idea.”

LaRusso pushed around the scrambled eggs on his plate while Johnny drizzled syrup on his pancakes. “I always thought you Encino kids had everything so easy. Rich families. Fancy houses. Everything you could ever want.”

“Closed doors make it easy to hide what’s going on inside.” Johnny flicked his gaze upward. “I was always just a Reseda brat dressed up like an Encino kid.” He stabbed a fork into a pancake triangle, the tug of a smirk pulling across his face. “But you know what that’s like.”

LaRusso sighed out heavily. “Miserable.”

Johnny frowned. “Okay. Not the response I was expecting.”

LaRusso rolled his eyes. “We both know I didn’t fit in there. I could dress up and play the part, but I could always tell they knew I didn’t belong there. I always imagined those big fancy country club parties were - I don’t know.” He hunched his shoulders, shaking his head. “Maybe I just thought if I could fit in somewhere like that, I would actually have deserved someone like Al- Amanda.”

Johnny narrowed his eyes. “You were going to say Ali.” LaRusso winced, and Johnny turned his glare onto his plate. He remembered his conversation with Ali. She hadn’t loved LaRusso the way he loved her.

“Fine. So maybe a part of me never really got over her,” LaRusso muttered with his brow knitted, but there was some look in his eyes that Johnny couldn’t name. “She was only person I had in that stupid school. Right up until she dumped me at prom. Then I was completely alone until graduation. No one in that damn place cared about me. I had no friends. I was just a Jersey brat living in Reseda. An outsider.”

“If you have to fake who you are, then those people are the ones who don’t deserve you.” Johnny shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth, not looking at LaRusso to see the shock playing across his face.


	5. Chapter 5

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Johnny bent over, hands on his knees as he caught his breath. When he agreed to let LaRusso pick where they went next - as long as it wasn’t back to Reseda - Johnny didn’t expect they would go on a long hike through the woods.

LaRusso looked back at him, laughter in his eyes. “What’s the matter? Winded already?” He kept walking, like he was some kind of stupid wood nymph that had boundless energy.

Johnny snorted. “No.” He pushed himself to start walking again. Even the hike at Coyote Creek wasn’t this bad. They were doing a lot more uphill walking here. “Why are we doing this?”

“You told me to pick something.” LaRusso shrugged, but his voice was light and happy. “I always liked nature. We had all that tech stuff at the house, but I never liked it that much. I always tried to get my kids to do stuff like this with me. Sam would, for a while. But after becoming a teenager, she didn’t want to do stuff with her dad as much.” LaRusso sighed. “Anthony, I’m pretty sure, just doesn’t like me.”

Johnny snorted. “He’s your kid. Of course, he likes you.”

“He only says it when he wants me to buy something.” LaRusso came to a stop, finally, standing near the edge of a rocky cliff.

“Maybe because you spoiled him.” Johnny stepped up beside him. The view from this spot, with the forest spilling out before them, was pretty spectacular. He guessed. If people liked that stuff. LaRusso seemed to. “At least your kid isn’t sitting in juvie right now.”

LaRusso flicked his gaze to Johnny, chewing on his lip, rolling it between his teeth. Then he turned his gaze back to the view before them. “Robby wants me to continue teaching him karate when he gets out.”

Johnny snapped his head around. “Are you?”

“I told him we would talk about it. But,” LaRusso frowned, crossing his arms, “I told Amanda I wouldn’t do karate anymore.”

“And that was to save your marriage?”

LaRusso glared at him, and Johnny raised his brow, waiting for an answer. “So what if it was?”

“Well, your marriage is over.” Johnny quickly held up his hands when LaRusso uncrossed his arms, ready for a fight. “You agreed to it to save your marriage, but that failed. Why should you keep to a promise that’s already been broken? Can you really live your life without karate? Because I really don’t think you can. You’ll be fucking miserable.”

LaRusso’s hands were tight fists. His jaw clenched, and his mouth thinned. Fury sparked in his eyes. Johnny stepped into his space, almost daring him to throw a punch. He could see the rise and fall of LaRusso’s chest, the strain in his muscles as he resisted the desire to attack.

“How happy were you before you started doing karate again?” Johnny stepped even closer. “Because for all the smiles you showed at the dealership, in your stupid ads, it was all fake. Anyone who knows you would know just by looking in your eyes. You weren’t happy. Karate brought the life back to them. To you.”

“Don’t talk like you know me!” LaRusso shouted, drawing back his arm.

Johnny blocked the punch. “Is that promise why all the billboards changed? Can’t use you in ads anymore because of the whole karate gimmick they used with you?”

The next punch came quicker, more powerful, but Johnny still saw it coming a mile away. The kick caught him by surprise, striking him in the side. He grunted but caught the next punch thrown at him. His punch clipped LaRusso on the side of the head. LaRusso stumbled back once he wrenched his fist free.

“So, you’re just supposed to give up something that’s been an important part of your life for a woman who left you? You’re supposed to be fucking miserable because it’s what she wanted?” Johnny shouted. “Just forget everything Mr. Miyagi taught you and spend the rest of your life selling cars in those stupid, tacky suits? And every day, you’re going to be dying a little inside. That’s just going to lead you to resent her.”

LaRusso launched himself at him. His rage made his attacks sloppy. Johnny swept his leg. LaRusso hit the ground, and Johnny pinned him before he could try to get up.

“Get off me,” LaRusso growled.

“Don’t like hearing the truth?” Johnny held his arms down so LaRusso couldn’t punch him. LaRusso fought against his hold, glowering darkly up at him. “Why did you tell Robby you shouldn’t have opened Miyagi-do?”

The fury smoldered in his eyes. LaRusso blinked then turned his head. His jaw clenched. “Mr. Miyagi wouldn’t have approved of it. He believed karate was for defense only. I didn’t go into it thinking about defense. I went in wanting to take down Cobra Kai. Looking for revenge. That’s not what Mr. Miyagi taught me. But,” his eyes found Johnny’s again, “then Kreese had to come back in. I couldn’t let him twist those kids. Not after everything he did.”

“So that’s the real reason.” Johnny sighed. “Look. You made a mistake. You’re not the only one guilty in all of this. But I don’t think Mr. Miyagi would want you to give up karate to atone for your misguided reasons for opening Miyagi-do. Wouldn’t he want you to do something to correct your wrongs?”

“Stop talking to me like you know everything about him,” LaRusso growled. “He was _my_ sensei.”

“You’ve talked about him enough,” Johnny snorted, “it makes me feel like I knew him too.” He sat up a bit, letting his hands slide down LaRusso’s arms, from wrist to elbow to shoulder. His fingers glided over smooth tan skin. LaRusso had removed the flannel he wore earlier during their hike, tying it around his waist. Now, he only wore a sleeveless white shirt. Color flushed LaRusso’s cheeks, and he lowered his eyes, long lashes brushing over his cheeks. Johnny swallowed, a feeling tugging at his gut.

He should get up. A voice in Johnny’s head was yelling at him to get up. If anyone came across them at this moment, they would probably get the wrong idea with Johnny straddling LaRusso’s waist. His heart beat a little too fast, and Johnny didn’t want to move. Fuck. What was wrong with him? But LaRusso wasn’t fighting him or yelling at him.

“What are we doing?” LaRusso flicked his gaze up again, and something about his eyes made Johnny’s heart jump into his throat.

“Were you actually happy with her? At the end?” Johnny didn’t know why he was asking. It was almost like someone else entirely was speaking. His hands absently trailed down LaRusso’s sides. He felt muscles contract and relax under his hands.

LaRusso’s breath hitched, and he closed his eyes. He wrapped his hands around Johnny’s wrists, stopping him from moving them lower along his body. “I don’t really know anymore,” he murmured, almost too quietly.

Johnny pulled his lip between his teeth. This was crazy. They were just fighting a few minutes ago. Now thoughts he shouldn’t be having were swirling around in his head. But the way LaRusso’s hair stuck out and stubble along his chin were distracting. He wanted to touch them, but LaRusso still held onto his wrists.

“What do you want now?”

LaRusso laughed, shaking his head. “I have no idea. I haven’t thought about anything other than those kids.” He opened his eyes then. “We really need to figure out what to do.”

“We will.” Johnny sighed. He was going to fuck this moment up. “What happened?”

LaRusso furrowed his brow, his head tilting to the side. “What?”

“I know there’s something you’re not telling me.” Johnny frowned as LaRusso shifted under him, his eyes refusing to meet Johnny’s gaze. “You’ve been unreasonably angry about Cobra Kai. Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you looked at Kreese. And you said ‘again.’ What does that mean? What happened before? This can’t all be just about the ‘84 tournament. And it can’t be about what happened in the parking lot afterward. I’m not moving until we talk this out.”

“Johnny, I don’t-”

“You wouldn’t have started thinking about this whole thing as a war if something didn’t happen.” Johnny ripped his hands from LaRusso’s hold and grabbed his wrists all in one smooth movement. He pinned LaRusso’s arms to the ground, holding his wrists by his head, as he leaned down over him. “You woke from a nightmare this morning. Something happened.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not important.” LaRusso still wouldn’t look at him, even with Johnny’s face hovering so closely over his own.

“Tell me, LaRusso.” Sighing, he pressed his forehead against LaRusso’s. “Please.”

LaRusso didn’t speak for a long time, but his body slowly relaxed beneath Johnny. “At the board meeting, you said Kreese was dead.”

“Yeah, I was there. I remember.”

“That wasn’t the first time he faked his death.” LaRusso breathed in deeply. “They said he was dead and manipulated me so I would fight in the ‘85 tournament.”

“They?” Johnny frowned.

“Kreese and his war buddy Terry Silver. I thought I was over it. Then I saw Kreese, with you. He came to Miyagi-do. Talking like we were both training our students for a war. And he was right. I was. Because I was desperate to get him out of the picture. And now I just have nightmares remembering that period of my life. When I was Cobra Kai. When I was being trained to have a killer instinct.” His breath was shaky, and Johnny pulled back to look at him fully. Tears lined his eyes. “I hate myself. For being manipulated like that. For actually being thrilled, in that one moment, when I punched some random dude at a club. It was like a shot of adrenaline, but the second I came down from it, I realized what I’d done, what I’d become. _I hated myself_. And it was all because I beat you the year before. Because your loss meant the end of Cobra Kai. Kreese and Silver wanted to make me pay for it.”

“Shit, LaRusso,” Johnny breathed out, rage flooding his veins. He knew Kreese was a sick fuck, but this was beyond his imagining. He let go of LaRusso’s wrists, moving his hands to cup his face, feeling the stubble brushing his palms. “It’s not your fault. You were just a kid. They were grown ass men taking advantage of you. You are not to blame for any of that.” He could still see the self-hatred in LaRusso’s eyes, and he knew that feeling all too well. He felt it every time he thought about the damage he did to LaRusso’s knee during the tournament.

LaRusso sighed, exhaustion written all over his face. “We’ve made quite the mess of everything, haven’t we?”

“Not our mess alone.” Johnny stroked a thumb over LaRusso’s cheek. “But we’re going to fix it.”

LaRusso nodded with a smile ghosting over his face.

“So,” Johnny’s mouth quirked in the half smirk he seemed to reserve only for LaRusso, “you were a Cobra too.”

LaRusso groaned, trying to duck his head out of Johnny’s hands. “Only for a few lessons!”

“Still counts,” Johnny teased. Then he tilted his head, his brow knitting. “If you were part of Cobra Kai, that means it was still around for the ‘85 tournament. How did Cobra Kai get a lifetime ban from the All Valley tournament?”

“Obviously, after I came to my senses, I went back to Mr. Miyagi for training. Silver already had someone ready to fight for Cobra Kai.” LaRusso’s mouth thinned, and his eyes darkened. “They ran the clock. Barnes would get a point then purposely lose it so the score remained at zero.”

“Why didn’t you get any points?” Johnny frowned at the sharp glare LaRusso gave him. “I’m not suggesting you were weak.”

“But I was. Even after training with Mr. Miyagi, once I got on the mat to face off against Barnes, I - Everything Silver taught me kept screaming in my head. I was afraid to fall back on that killer instinct he put in me. Until Mr. Miyagi reminded me of my strong roots. I just had to keep to my true self, and that’s how I beat him. After how Barnes fought, the board decided to ban Cobra Kai.”

Johnny sighed, shoulders slumping. “And I had to bring it back.”

“You didn’t know.”

“You did.”

“I’m sorry.”

Johnny shook his head. “It’s done. You don’t have to keep apologizing.” He stared into LaRusso’s eyes. “I’m sorry about your knee.”

“I’m sorry about Ali.”

“I saw her.”

LaRusso blinked wide eyes. “What?” His brow creased as he shook his head. “What do you mean you saw her?”

Sighing, Johnny turned his gaze away. “After you came yelling at me, I hopped on a plane and went to see her in Denver. I don’t really know what I was doing.” He shook his head. “I needed to get away. I thought seeing her would help. Somehow. I don’t know. I was stupid. We just fought. Like we always do. We were bad for each other. I should have just let her go back then.” He worked his jaw, trying to organize his thoughts. “She was the first girl who I felt like I could let my guard down around. I didn’t have to always pretend to be some rich Encino kid around her. She made me feel like who I used to be, before my mom married Sid, wasn’t important.”

“Yeah,” LaRusso smiled sadly, “she had a way of making you feel special. I should have known it wouldn’t work out with her.”

Johnny jerked his head back around, immediately locking eyes with LaRusso. “What? But you loved her.”

“Maybe I did. But I knew we were mismatched. Her parents glared at me like I was scum. They didn’t want their daughter dating some Reseda brat. And Ali was popular. Everyone loved her. Even when we hung out with her friends, I could read it on their faces. They couldn’t believe she was slumming it with someone like me.”

Johnny scowled. “I never liked her friends.”

LaRusso laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t like them either.” He sighed. “She sent me a friend request on Facebook not too long ago.”

Johnny stared into his eyes for a good long moment. “Did you accept it?”

LaRusso shook his head. “I don’t think we really have anything to talk about.”

Silence fell over them. They stayed there like that, neither one moving with Johnny still straddling LaRusso’s waist and his hands cupping his face. The light began to fade as the sun set. Johnny’s gaze flicked to LaRusso’s mouth when he bit his lip. He leaned down, but a stomach growling stopped him.

“Maybe we should get dinner.”

Johnny swallowed, reluctant to move. “Yeah.” He pulled back, removing his hands from LaRusso’s face. Then he stood and offered a hand to help him up. LaRusso took it, and when he got to his feet, they stood almost chest to chest. “So, dinner.” Johnny turned before he could act on impulse.

“I get to choose this time,” LaRusso called, following him back through the forest.

“It better not be some fancy ass place.” Johnny bit back a smirk, practically feeling LaRusso rolling his eyes behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> January 1! So hyped for season 3!  
> I'd have to do double posts each day to get this all out before the new episodes drop. XD;;


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mature rating for this chapter.
> 
> Also, merry Christmas and happy holidays~ Hope you all have a great day!

“We should do it together.” Johnny smirked as LaRusso choked on the beer he was gulping down at that exact moment.

LaRusso coughed a few times as he set the bottle down on the table. “W-What?”

Johnny stuffed a fry in his mouth, still smirking at the flush of color spotting LaRusso’s face. “You mentioned before that Robby still wanted to train under you. We should do it together. Miguel still wants me as his sensei.”

“He does? That’s great, Johnny!”

This time, Johnny was the one choking when LaRusso gave him a beaming smile. Shit. He wasn’t prepared for that. He managed to swallow then chugged down a few gulps of his own beer. “He came to visit me. Before I picked you up. He’s doing better, but I think it’ll be a while still before he can actually start training again. And it sounded like there might be others that want me to train them.”

LaRusso nodded, his eyes dipping. “I’m glad he’s doing better. I’m impressed he went to talk to Robby.”

“Yeah, they’re smarter than we are. Talking things out is far better than letting their feelings stew.” Johnny grabbed the ketchup and squirted some more into his basket of fries. “I’m not sure where exactly they stand after that talk. I doubt they’re suddenly best friends. If we decide to teach them together, we should discuss things with them first. If they’re going to be uncomfortable being around each other, there’s no point in forcing things. But I do think it’ll be good for them to keep talking to each other. Make sure everything gets resolved and all that shit.”

LaRusso continued staring at his half-eaten burger. For a long time, he remained silent, but he spoke up before Johnny could say anything more. “I don’t want to train them for a war.”

“That’s not what we’d be doing. And we’ll make that a strong point if we agree to teach them. No starting shit with Kreese’s students. Karate is for defense, but if you have to fight, strike hard and fight with honor.”

LaRusso lifted his head, his eyes searching Johnny’s face as he considered those words. “So, we’d be, like, mixing our styles?”

Johnny shrugged. “You’re the one that goes on and on about balance. Your style stresses defense. Mine offense. Together, they’re balanced.”

LaRusso squinted his eyes. “I guess. But that still wouldn’t take care of Kreese.”

Johnny frowned at his beer for a good while before picking it up to chug down what remained in the bottle. When he slammed it down on the table, he met LaRusso’s gaze across the table. “Maybe there is no beating him.”

“Johnny, the kids!” LaRusso gasped at him, horror flashing through his eyes.

“I know.” Johnny heaved a sigh. “But challenging him won’t do any good. Maybe,” he drummed his fingers on the table, thinking hard, “the kids are the answer. Robby and Miguel were able to talk to each other after everything that happened. Maybe if we can get all the kids talking, hashing things out, apologizing for their dumb mistakes, they’ll see that what Kreese is teaching them is bullshit. They shouldn’t be thinking that they’re at war or that everyone is their enemy. All that does is escalate shit until we have another situation like that fight at school.”

“Okay.” LaRusso nodded, a slight frown forming. “I’m not sure we’d be able to convince Kreese’s students to meet with everyone. And assuming we can get them to meet, it might be good for us to be there. To stop them if they try to start fighting.”

“I get the feeling Kreese’s students wouldn’t like us there. Probably better to try this with small groups rather than everyone at once.”

“Yeah.” LaRusso thought for a moment. “What’s that one girl’s name? The one that-” He grimaced and swallowed hard. “The one that cut up Sam’s arm?”

Johnny winced. “You really want to start with Tory and Sam?”

“And Aisha.” LaRusso nodded. “After them, probably that mohawk kid and Demetri.”

Johnny sighed, leaning back in his seat. “So basically, you want to start with the top students.”

“You know what they say, Johnny. Cut off the head, and the body falls.”

Johnny shook his head. “That’s not going to be easy. But I get what you mean. If we can get those two to realize Kreese is wrong, the rest might follow.”

“This may not work, but it’s worth a shot. It would be nice if we could resolve all of this through talking.”

“Fighting certainly hasn’t done any good.” Johnny picked up his hamburger and finished it off in a few bites. Licking sauce from his thumb, he glanced back over to LaRusso. “Surprised you picked this place. I thought you’d want to go somewhere stupidly overpriced. You know, someplace where you can get your silly ice, ice cold martinis.”

LaRusso rolled his eyes. “Maybe I’m just finally tired of pretending to be that person.” His Jersey accent slipped out, and Johnny bit the inside of his cheek to stop from grinning. Damn, he liked hearing it.

Johnny bobbed his head as he wiped his hands on some napkins. “Good. You look better like this than in those stupid, expensive suits.”

LaRusso glanced down at himself. “Really? Amanda hated when I got this stuff out.”

Johnny lifted an eyebrow. “Is she blind?”

LaRusso shifted in his seat with his eyes lowered. “It’s pretty late. We should probably think about getting a room.” He flicked his gaze up. “Are we heading back tomorrow?”

Johnny was a little frustrated with that shift in conversation. “We got our plan, don’t we? Yeah, we’ll head back in the morning.” He stood, gathering up his trash, and LaRusso did the same.

They left the bar and climbed into Johnny’s car. He drove around until he found a hotel. It wasn’t some fancy, expensive one, but it was better than the motel they went to last night. When he opened the door to their room, Johnny wasn’t immediately hit with some unidentifiable stench that burned his nostrils. The room seemed clean, and he spotted no stains on the ceiling.

“I’m going to take a shower,” LaRusso announced, heading for the bathroom.

“Yeah, okay.” Johnny walked over to one of the beds. “I’ll take one after you.” After their hike in the forest, he probably stank. He didn’t bother lifting an arm to check.

Digging out his phone, he checked his messages while he waited. He still wasn’t a fan of the whole texting thing, but Miguel explained it to him anyway. All his messages were from Miguel, asking where he was and if he was okay. Apparently, Sam asked Miguel if he knew anything about where her dad was, and Miguel begged him to reply, and “please, please tell me you didn’t kill Mr. L!” Johnny snorted a laugh at that. Sighing, he texted back, just so Miguel wouldn’t panic. It was a simple, “don’t worry kid. Coming back tomorrow.” Then he tossed the phone onto the bed, not waiting to see if Miguel replied. He hoped not. Miguel should be sleeping.

LaRusso came out of the bathroom a little while later, already dressed for bed with still damp hair. “I’m looking forward to getting back to my own bed.”

Johnny snorted as he stood. “It’s only your second night away from home.”

“Still prefer my own bed,” he grumbled as he climbed into the second bed.

Johnny rolled his eyes then went to take his shower. The warm spray felt good. He stood there for a moment, just soaking it up before he scrubbed himself clean. Once he was thoroughly clean, he got out and dried off, tugging on his sweatpants. LaRusso was already asleep when Johnny stepped out of the bathroom. He flipped off the lights and climbed into his own bed. Sleep didn’t come easily as he replayed the day in his head. He turned his head, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, to look at the lump of LaRusso’s body under the blankets.

_Nope. Just stop thinking about that_. Johnny turned over so his back faced the other bed.

Maybe he was expecting it after last night. A couple hours after he managed to drift off, Johnny heard the gasp and rustle of blankets. He woke up instantly, turning over to watch LaRusso. At the sudden shout, like LaRusso was in pain, Johnny got out of bed. He crossed the gap and sat down on the other bed.

“Hey-” A fist hit Johnny on the side of the head. He grabbed LaRusso’s arms and pinned them to the bed. “LaRusso, you’re okay,” he said, trying to speak gently. This - He wasn’t good at this kind of thing. “You’re safe from those assholes.”

LaRusso’s face scrunched up in a grimace. His arms tugged against Johnny’s hold, but Johnny held on tight. He didn’t want to take another punch. After a few more attempts to calm him down, LaRusso opened his eyes. He squinted, his brow furrowing.

“Johnny?” he asked groggily.

“You were having another nightmare.”

LaRusso sighed. “Sorry I woke you.”

“You don’t have to apologize, idiot.” There was almost affection in his voice. Johnny flicked his gaze over him. “Think you can sleep?” A smirk tugged across his face. “Or maybe I should sleep with you so you won’t have any more nightmares.”

“Oh, god, Johnny!” LaRusso rolled over onto his side. “Why do you have to say it like that?”

“Are you blushing?” Johnny grinned as he leaned in closer. In the dark, he couldn’t see well enough to know if there was a blush or not.

“No,” LaRusso muttered.

“You know,” Johnny whispered into his ear, his heart beating faster. Was he really doing this? He was the king of making bad decisions, so he pressed on. “I wanted to kiss you earlier.” He smirked at the sharp intake from LaRusso.

After swallowing, LaRusso asked, “Then why didn’t you?”

“Making out in the forest on the cold hard ground? Not nearly as romantic or fun as you might think.”

LaRusso laughed. “Please don’t tell me you have experience with that. I don’t really want to hear about it.”

“I mean, we aren’t kids anymore.” Johnny climbed into the bed, and LaRusso didn’t kick him out. “That kind of thing wouldn’t be so good for our poor backs.”

“How sweet of you.”

Johnny snaked his arms around LaRusso, resting his chin on his shoulder. “Did you want me to kiss you?”

“Yeah.”

Johnny’s heart jumped into his throat. His brain kept telling him this was crazy. How could LaRusso like him after everything? But they weren’t teens anymore. They talked through their shit. And after everything, he could say now that he always felt some kind of draw to LaRusso. Maybe this attraction was always there, buried under all those mixed up feelings. Johnny turned his head, planting a kiss against LaRusso’s neck.

LaRusso let out a shaky breath. “S-So does this mean we’re a thing now?”

“Do you want to be?” Johnny kissed up LaRusso’s neck to his jaw rough with his stubble.

“Yeah.” LaRusso twisted around to face him. “Yeah, I do.”

They both leaned in at the same time, mouth crushing against mouth. LaRusso’s hand wrapped around to the back of his head, fingers tangling in blond locks. Johnny rolled them over so LaRusso was on his back. He straddled him again, like in the forest, his hands sliding down LaRusso’s chest then slipping under his shirt.

“I kept waiting for you to kiss me,” LaRusso murmured against his lips before sealing them in another kiss.

Johnny grinned before pulling back to tug LaRusso’s shirt off over his head. “Bed’s more comfortable, right?” He wished the lights were on so he could see him better.

“Definitely.” LaRusso drew him back down, kissing along Johnny’s jaw.

Johnny tilted his head to the side, giving LaRusso better access to his throat. His hands explored LaRusso’s torso, all lean muscle. He would be jealous of him staying in shape, but Johnny hadn’t been that out of shape, though getting back into karate had given him more defined muscles. LaRusso kissed down his throat, settling at his clavicle, sucking and nipping at it.

“Shit.” Johnny groaned, grinding his hips down. He grinned when he could feel LaRusso was equally hard.

LaRusso arched up, pressing their bodies flush. “Did you bring-” He moaned, deep and throaty, sending tendrils of pleasurable heat through Johnny.

“Bring what?” Johnny kissed the juncture where shoulder met neck. His hand slipped past the waistband of LaRusso’s pants and took firm hold of his cock.

LaRusso dug his hand into Johnny’s hair, his other hand scratching blunt nails down his back. His hips jerked, thrusting into Johnny’s grip.

“Fuck, Johnny!”

LaRusso brought Johnny back to him, locking their mouths together again. His tongue swiped across his lips, and Johnny happily obliged, opening his mouth. They explored each other’s mouth as Johnny removed his hand, long enough to shove down his sweatpants. Then his hand was back between their bodies, stroking both their hard cocks. Slow then quick, his thumb rubbed over the heads of their erections then dragged his hand back down to the base of their cocks. Their hips bucked in rhythm to his strokes. Every little moan and gasp from LaRusso drove him even closer to the edge.

“Shit, Daniel,” Johnny groaned, not sure how much longer he could hold out.

LaRusso’s head fell back as he let out a long, guttural moan. Johnny latched his mouth to his throat, sucking, nipping, licking, dragging his teeth over soft tanned skin. LaRusso jerked his hips a few times, shouting out Johnny’s name, as he came, spilling his cum between their bodies. Johnny couldn’t keep his control much longer. With a few hard pulls, he followed with a low moan. He saw starbursts of white as the waves of pleasure kept crashing over him. They stayed like that for several long moments, chests heaving and breaths washing over each other. Then Johnny rolled off him and onto his back.

“So,” Johnny swallowed, “what were you trying to ask?”

LaRusso waved a hand but found his words after a minute. “Just wanted to know if you brought lube and stuff.” He laughed. “Guess we were too impatient for that.”

“Yeah,” Johnny agreed with a smirk. He felt around the bed until he found LaRusso’s discarded shirt then cleaned them up.

“Is that my shirt?” LaRusso gasped, scandalized.

Johnny snorted. “You want to sleep with this mess still on us?”

LaRusso grumbled as Johnny finished up and tossed the dirty shirt to the floor. Once they pulled their pants back up, LaRusso curled up against Johnny’s side. He nuzzled his head into Johnny’s neck and drifted off to sleep again. Neither of them woke again until light was filtering through the closed curtains of the hotel room.


	7. Chapter 7

Johnny knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you almost done in there? I want to check out before they charge us for another night.”

The door opened, and LaRusso stepped out wearing a red hoodie like the one he used to wear back in high school. “Yeah, yeah,” he rolled his eyes, “I know when checkout is.” He walked past Johnny on his way to where he left his bag on his bed.

Johnny watched him, his gaze maybe lingering a little too long on how his jeans hugged around his ass. When he realized that, he jerked his gaze upward before remembering he didn’t have to feel ashamed for staring. He bit his lip as his eyes drifted downward again. Some tiny voice in his head thought checking out LaRusso’s body should have felt strange, but it didn’t.

“Ready to go?” LaRusso turned around with his bag thrown over a shoulder.

Johnny’s head shot up to meet his gaze. LaRusso lifted an eyebrow as he struggled to hold back an amused smirk.

“Yeah, let’s hit the road.”

Johnny grabbed his bag, and they left the hotel room. Checkout took little time. Then they were back in Johnny’s car and soon after on the road. Johnny kept throwing glances toward LaRusso as he drove. Every now and then, he would catch his gaze, and LaRusso would flush lightly, shift in his seat, and look away. The rest of the time, LaRusso appeared more relaxed than he had in a while, like that tight coil of burdens finally loosened inside him. Maybe it was because they finally had some kind of direction for dealing with Kreese. Maybe it was because of what they did last night. Johnny found himself blushing at the memory.

“We’ll need a name,” Johnny said after a long stretch of silence with only the radio to fill it.

“Shouldn’t we see if things work out between Robby and Miguel first?”

Johnny shrugged. “Can’t hurt to start thinking about some ideas.”

LaRusso rested his elbow against the door, leaning his head on his hand. “What are you thinking? Something with Cobra in the name?”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “No. Screw the older generation. This will be our dojo. It should be something that reflects us, not them.”

LaRusso nodded, though his eyes were lowered. Johnny could guess what he was thinking. LaRusso would still want to honor Mr. Miyagi somehow, and it didn’t surprise Johnny. Mr. Miyagi, from everything he knew about the man, was a good sensei and a good man.

“We have plenty of time to think it over.” Johnny grinned, reaching over to bump his elbow against LaRusso’s arm. “Don’t stress about it.” After a brief silence, he asked, “What about the dealership?”

“Huh? What?” LaRusso blinked his big Bambi eyes at him.

“I mean,” Johnny’s shoulders hunched, “I kind of just kidnapped you for a few days. Isn’t Amanda going to be pissed at you for skipping out on work?”

“Oh.” LaRusso shook his head with a light laugh. “No, I called before we left to let them know I would be unavailable for a little while.”

“So, you told Amanda, but she didn’t mention anything about it to your kids?” Johnny frowned at that. “Miguel was getting texts from Sam wondering where you were.”

LaRusso blinked at him, the shock slowly rising to his eyes. “Oh, shit!” He dug into his pocket for his phone, and Johnny couldn’t help laughing at him. “Sam only comes to visit me every once and a while since the divorce.” LaRusso frowned as he typed out a text to his daughter. “I just kind of assumed she wouldn’t bother coming over while we were gone.”

Johnny’s brow furrowed. “So, are you saying you didn’t tell Amanda anything about this?”

LaRusso shot him a guilty look, frowning. “Well, she wouldn’t want to know anything about it anyway. She doesn’t want me saying anything about karate. And, well, with you, it’s always about karate.”

Johnny shook his head with a smile on his face. “You really are something, LaRusso.”

“Shut up! This was important. If I had talked to Amanda, it would have just turned into a big fight.” LaRusso huffed, folding his arms.

Johnny flicked his gaze slowly over LaRusso’s body. “Yeah, it was.”

LaRusso flushed darkly. “Not just about that!”

Johnny grinned, focusing back on the road. “So, what did you tell your kid?”

“Just that we’re on our way back.” LaRusso shrugged. “And that we should be back before nightfall.”

Johnny nodded but frowned slightly. “I’m not going to be your secret lover, you know.”

“I wasn’t going to tell her about us through a text message!” LaRusso scowled. “If,” his voice was quieter, “she comes over for dinner, I’ll tell her.” His gaze flicked toward Johnny. “If you’re okay with that.”

Johnny rolled his eyes, a fond smirk slipping across his face. “I just said I didn’t want to be a secret.” He caught LaRusso staring down at his hands with a smile.

They made a brief stop for lunch, some 50’s themed diner.

“What’s that look for?” Johnny asked when he caught a wistful look in LaRusso’s eyes. He took a bite of the pickle wedge that came with his meal.

“Just thinking back to Okinawa.” LaRusso turned back to him with a smile.

Johnny lifted his eyebrow, trying to make the connection there. “How does this make you think of that?”

“They had a 50’s dance club there. Kumiko took me to it.”

“Who’s that?” This was his first time really hearing about LaRusso’s trip there.

LaRusso bit his lip, dropping his gaze to the fries remaining on his plate. “Um, we kind of were a thing.” He winced. “I even asked her to come back here with me. But then she got accepted to a dance school there, and well, I knew how important that dream was to her.”

Johnny frowned, tossing his half-eaten pickle onto the plate. “You still love her?”

LaRusso lifted his gaze then rolled his eyes. “She holds a fond place in my heart. Like Ali does. But no, I don’t love her anymore.” He smirked, pressing his leg against Johnny’s under the table. “I’m much more interested in the person in front of me.”

Johnny ducked his head, coughing into his hand and hoping LaRusso didn’t notice the flush of color on his cheeks. A quick glance suggested LaRusso saw it. “Anything else happen on your trip to Okinawa?”

LaRusso shrugged. “Oh, you know, just your average life or death battle kind of trip.” He stood up, picking up his used napkins to throw away.

“Wait. What?” Johnny hopped up and followed him out of the diner and to his car. “What do you mean life or death battle?” They climbed into the car.

“Well, you see,” LaRusso said as Johnny pulled them out of the diner parking lot, “the whole reason we went was because Mr. Miyagi’s father was ill.”

“His father was still alive?”

“I was surprised too. He hadn’t talked much about it until the letter came. He didn’t keep in contact with his family after leaving Okinawa.”

Johnny nodded, his brow furrowing. “Why’d he leave?” He remembered when he finally got the chance to leave Sid’s house, he didn’t talk to his mother very often, maybe once a year on her birthday.

“For love. He was in love with a girl from his village but she was arranged to marry his best friend.”

“That’s something they do?” Johnny grimaced. He thought he heard something about arranged marriages before, but he hadn’t paid too much attention to it.

“Not so much anymore. I think. Anyway, Mr. Miyagi was going to ignore all that and marry her anyway. But then his friend Sato challenged him. Life or death. Winner would marry Yukie. The loser died.”

“And he ran?” Johnny’s eyes widened. For a long time, he hated Mr. Miyagi, for kicking his ass, for training LaRusso to beat him in the tournament. But that hatred was stupid, and when he realized that, he started looking at Mr. Miyagi as a strong figure, a protector Johnny now wished he could have been back then, instead of the bully he was. He couldn’t relate that man who stood without flinching in front of Kreese to someone who would run from a fight.

“A woman isn’t a prize to win.” LaRusso frowned. “And he still saw Sato as a friend. Even in winning, he would have lost. To him, being seen as a coward was better. Sato, however, took him running as an insult to his honor. So naturally, when we showed up in Okinawa, he wanted to finally make good on his challenge.”

Johnny sighed. “I guess we’re not the only idiots that hang on too long to a rivalry.”

LaRusso laughed. “Yeah. So Sato forced Mr. Miyagi to accept the challenge by selling off the village.”

“What?” Johnny shouted, almost swerving into the other lane when he snapped his head around to LaRusso.

“Eyes on the road!” LaRusso shouted, and Johnny turned his head. “Sato owned the village, and while he was rich, the village remained poor. Mr. Miyagi accepted the challenge on the condition that the deed to the village would go to the people of the village, no matter the outcome. He was willing to sacrifice himself to protect them.”

Johnny shook his head. “Sounds like him.” He watched LaRusso nod out the corner of his eye. “But Mr. Miyagi only died some years ago, right? Are you saying he killed his friend in the end?” He seriously couldn’t imagine that. Even if Mr. Miyagi had earned the Medal of Honor in the war, Johnny just couldn’t see him killing someone like that. He remembered the parking lot. Mr. Miyagi could have taken Kreese’s life right then and there, but he showed mercy and spared him. Johnny guiltily wished he hadn’t right now.

LaRusso shook his head. “They never fought.”

“What? But you just said.” Johnny blinked when LaRusso grinned.

“A storm came in the night before they were to fight. The building Sato was in collapsed on him. He was pinned under a beam. Mr. Miyagi split the beam and saved his life. He could have taken Sato’s life easily, but he didn’t. His karate wasn’t meant for killing. After that, Sato had a change of heart. He even helped to rebuild the damage to the village.”

“Wow,” Johnny breathed, shaking his head in disbelief. “You tried to make it sound like it was a boring trip. Did anything else happen?”

“I may have pissed off Sato’s nephew Chozen by outing how he was cheating the villagers, winning a bet that lost him a bunch of money, you know.” LaRusso shrugged. “When a little girl was stuck out in the storm, I went to save her. I guess Sato ordered Chozen to help me, but he didn’t so Sato pretty much cut him out of the family. Then Chozen decided to challenge me to a life or death fight.”

“Is there any time you’re not getting into fights?”

“Hey! It wasn’t my fault. Entirely. He already hated my guts the moment I showed up with Mr. Miyagi,” LaRusso argued. “And you can’t tell me he didn’t deserve being outed for cheating the villagers.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ll give you that one,” Johnny conceded. “What was the bet?”

“I had to break through six blocks of ice.” LaRusso looked away, rubbing at the back of his neck when Johnny gawked at him. “Kumiko and I stopped at this bar, and there were some guys trying to break ice blocks. They only used three blocks, but they could barely even break through two.”

Johnny side eyed him. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t mean for them to overhear me. I was just talking to Kumiko. I was telling her that it wasn’t about strength. Breaking the blocks was a mental thing. The guys got angry when they heard me and wanted me to show them. Chozen, of course, had to show up, and he decided it should be six blocks instead of three.”

“And you actually did it?” Johnny had trouble believing it.

LaRusso shot him a cocky smirk. “You would have seen me do it if you hadn’t upstaged me at the All Valley Fest.”

“Okay. You are definitely doing that when we get back.”

“Because you don’t believe me?”

“Because I want to see it, idiot.”

“Hm. Maybe we can do a demonstration sometime.”

Johnny grinned to himself, looking forward to that demonstration.

The sun had already set by the time Johnny parked his car outside LaRusso’s home. Another car was already parked outside, and the lights were on inside.

“I guess Sam’s here.” LaRusso bit his lip, panic in his eyes.

“Hey.” Johnny reached over, lacing their fingers together. “I’m sure she’ll accept you no matter what.” He squeezed his hand.

A smile brightened his face. “You should come in with me.”

Johnny blinked, stunned. “Are you sure? You don’t want to talk to her by yourself?”

“I thought you didn’t want to be a secret.” LaRusso pushed open the door to climb out of the car.

Johnny didn’t want to be a secret, but now he felt a little nervous. How exactly would Sam react to this news? Was she going to hate him for seducing her father? After wiping his hands on his pants, he popped the trunk then climbed out too. LaRusso grabbed his bag, slamming the trunk shut, then led the way to the front door.

“Dad!” Sam was there the instant the door opened, drawing LaRusso into a hug. Johnny pushed down the flare of jealousy. Would he ever have the type of relationship with Robby where they hugged each other?

“Sorry if I made you worry.” LaRusso pulled back, and Sam’s eyes darted past him to Johnny. She frowned at him. “You’re probably wondering what that was all about.”

“Why is he here?” Sam’s eyes hardened as she folded her arms.

LaRusso cast a glance over his shoulder to Johnny. He bit his lip again, and Johnny could practically feel the nervousness radiating off him.

“I took him,” Johnny said, rolling his shoulder. “I thought we should talk about the whole Kreese situation.”

Sam’s brow creased, shooting a look to her father. “I thought you promised mom not to do karate anymore.”

“I did. But this was about trying to help those kids Kreese has under his influence.” LaRusso frowned. “And I - I can’t give up karate. It’s too important to me.”

Sam squinted at him for a good long while. Then she nodded. “So, does that mean you’re going to open Miyagi-do again?”

LaRusso glanced quickly at Johnny. “That’s something that’s still being discussed.”

Sam followed his glance, the frown returning. “What’s going on, dad?”

“Um,” LaRusso folded his arms, perhaps trying to keep his hands from fidgeting, “there’s something I need to tell you.” He swallowed, and Johnny hoped it wasn’t too obvious to Sam when he placed a hand against the small of LaRusso’s back. “We, um,” he licked his lips, “we’re together.”

Sam’s brow knitted as she stared at her father. Then she snapped a glare to Johnny. “I thought you hated each other.”

“We did a lot of talking,” LaRusso explained. “I know it sounds crazy. There was a lot of anger on both sides, but we were able to forgive our past mistakes. After that,” he looked to Johnny again with a fond smile, “we just connected. Maybe it’s always been there and we were just too stupid, or stubborn, to see it.”

“Can we talk without him?”

Johnny grimaced as LaRusso’s expression fell. “I should be getting home anyway.” He stepped back through the still open door. “I’ll talk to you later, LaRusso.” Then he turned and walked to his car. When he got in and looked back up, the front door was closed. He sighed, his shoulders slouching as he hoped LaRusso’s talk with his daughter went well.


	8. Chapter 8

Johnny rubbed at his eyes. It was too early in the morning, but someone kept knocking insistently on his door. He climbed out of bed, snatching a shirt from the floor as he made his way out of his bedroom. What was it now? He yanked his shirt on over his head. Couldn’t a guy get some decent sleep? When he opened the door, Johnny blinked at Miguel, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

“Kid, do you know how early it is?”

“Almost eleven?” Miguel adjusted his hold on the crutches.

“Go sit down.” Johnny stepped aside and pointed at his couch. As Miguel made his way to the couch, Johnny closed the door then headed over to his kitchen. “What do you want? Don’t you have school or something?”

“It’s Sunday.” Miguel eased himself onto the couch and set the crutches off to the side. “And mom said it was too late for me to come over when you got home last night. So where did you go? You were with Mr. L, right? You didn’t, like, kill him or something, did you?”

Johnny scanned his refrigerator and made a face. He needed to get some groceries soon. He was pretty sure some of the stuff had spoiled. After closing the door, he joined Miguel on the couch. Miguel stared at him expectantly, and Johnny sighed.

“Okay, Diaz. I’m just going to be straight with you.” Johnny’s mouth pursed, recognizing the irony of that statement. “LaRusso and I talked shit out. We’re figuring out how to deal with Kreese.”

“Seriously? That’s great!” Miguel’s face lit up. “Maybe once the doctor okays it, I can get back into training.”

Johnny held up his hand. “That’s still something to be worked out.” Miguel’s delight deflated. “Would you be okay with seeing Robby again?”

Miguel stared at him, his brow drawing together. “Well, I don’t mind. I think we talked things out pretty well last time.” He shrugged. “Might depend more on how he feels about it.”

Johnny nodded. “Okay. Good. Right. Okay.” He nodded some more, trying to think of when he could arrange another visit.

“What’s going on, Sensei?”

Johnny jerked his attention back to Miguel. “We just have a lot of stuff to work out.”

“With me and Robby?” Miguel tilted his head, frowning.

“With everyone.” Johnny took a breath. His hands felt sweaty. No wonder LaRusso had struggled with this last night. Was Sam pissed at him? Johnny checked his phone before passing out last night, but LaRusso didn’t send him any texts. Should he be worried about that? He glanced back to Miguel, who was frowning even more now. He ground his teeth for a minute. “LaRusso and I hooked up.” There! He managed to get out, even if it was in a rush of words.

Miguel stared, brow creasing, like he was struggling to process what was just said. “You-” He shook his head. “Have you always liked guys? You always talk about hot babes.”

Johnny rubbed at his eyes. “I don’t like guys. It’s just LaRusso.”

“Oh.” Miguel bobbed his head, like some kind of understanding clicked in his head. “Okay. Yeah. Makes sense. You know, bisexuality isn’t like some even split or whatever.”

“Can we not do the whole label thing?” Johnny was still trying to wrap his head around there being more than two genders. “You’re not,” he frowned, “weirded out or mad about this?”

Miguel shrugged. “I’m not going to judge you for liking another guy. I want to say it’s weird,” he squinted, “that it’s Mr. L. But at the same time, maybe that’s why the two of you were always butting heads. You’re both too stubborn to admit how you really feel.” He shook his head. “How did it even happen? Started out fighting and ended up kissing? Wait.” He held up his hands, faking a grossed out face. “I don’t wanna know.”

Johnny huffed a laugh. “Yeah, probably better not to hear all the details.” He smirked when Miguel let out an, “Ewwww!” Then he sighed. “Not sure his daughter’s being so accepting.” He grimaced. “Not sure how Robby will react either.”

“I think they’ll accept it.” Miguel shrugged. “In time, at least.”

“I sure hope so.” Johnny looked over to Miguel then leaned back against the couch. “How’s the physical therapy going?”

“Good.” Miguel bobbed his head before his shoulders slumped slightly. “Sometimes, really frustrating. Sometimes, I think I’m moving forward really well. Then other times, it feels like I’m not making any progress at all. I get really mad at those times.”

“It sucks.” Johnny placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it encouragingly. “And it’s okay to get mad. But you just have to remember that it’s working. Even when it feels like you’ve stalled, you just have to keep pushing yourself forward because you are getting better.”

“Yeah.” Miguel wore a small, tentative smile. “Thanks, Sensei.”

Johnny grinned. “Anytime.”

He helped Miguel up and walked him back across the courtyard to his apartment. Then he headed for his car. As he sat in the driver’s seat, he checked his phone. Still nothing from LaRusso. Frowning, he sent a quick text, just to say he hoped everything went okay with Sam. Then he left for the mini mart to pick up a few things. He passed by the one he used to go to, pointedly not looking at the Cobra Kai sign as he drove out of his way to a different mini mart.

_Fucking Kreese_. Johnny glowered as he got out of his car. He should have known better than to let him back into his life. He was as angry at Kreese as he was at himself. His phone pinged before he could enter the mini mart. Johnny fished the phone from his pocket, and the anger melted away when he read the message from LaRusso. Dinner at seven. He smiled as he confirmed he would be there. In a better mood, he entered the mini mart.

_Ugh, I have it bad_. Johnny shook his head as he walked the aisles, picking up what he needed. _One stupid text and I’m grinning like a moron_. He forced the smile off his face as he walked up to the cashier to pay for his items.

The day felt too long but also too short. Before he knew it, seven o’clock rolled around. Johnny stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He wore one of the few nice button up shirts he owned. What was he doing? LaRusso wasn’t expecting him to dress up all fancy just to impress him. But he still wanted to look good. Johnny grabbed his keys and left his apartment.

His leg was bouncing by the time Johnny parked outside LaRusso’s house a few minutes after seven. When he got out of his car, he noticed the other car parked there. He sighed as he walked up to the front door. He knew he couldn’t avoid facing Sam, after last night, but he thought he would get some alone time with LaRusso. He knocked on the door.

Sam answered it, and she glared at him as she held the door open. Great. This dinner was sure to be awkward.

“Dad’s still finishing up dinner.” Sam turned and walked away.

Johnny shut the door after he entered. Then he followed Sam toward the kitchen. When he walked in, he saw Sam standing next to her father, helping him to finish preparing dinner. LaRusso glanced over his shoulder and smiled brightly when he spotted him.

“Hey, Johnny! It’ll just be one or two more minutes. You can go sit if you want.”

Johnny’s gaze drifted to Sam, but she stubbornly wouldn’t look at him. “Yeah, okay,” he said then went to sit on the couch in the other room. He forgot how nice and clean LaRusso kept the place. But it was less imposing than the house in Encino. LaRusso didn’t have lots of expensive tech around, except the nice big screen television. Looking around, Johnny wondered how much of the house LaRusso and his sensei built together.

More than two minutes passed before LaRusso came to find him. His arms circled around Johnny from behind. “Dinner’s ready,” he said in a soft tone near his ear.

Johnny might have gotten thoughts from that, if Sam wasn’t in the house. “You left out that your kid would be here.”

LaRusso’s hold loosened, and he pulled back. “Sorry.” His wince was heard in his voice. “I just thought it would be good for her to see us together. I don’t want things to be awkward between you and my kids.”

Johnny stood and turned to face him. “She already hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you.” LaRusso frowned. “It’s just this is all new and strange. I mean, it is for me too. One moment, we’re butting heads and fighting. Then the next moment, I’m waiting for you to kiss me. There’s an adjustment period that needs to happen.”

“Yeah,” Johnny sighed, “I know.” He was still getting used to the shift in their relationship too.

LaRusso nodded then a smile spread onto his face. “You look really good.”

Johnny ducked his head, a tinge of heat touching his cheeks. “Okay. Let’s get to this dinner thing.” He followed LaRusso to the table where Sam was laying out the plates. The spread looked delicious, because of course, LaRusso was a whiz in the kitchen. Johnny knew a few dishes, but he hadn’t bothered to cook anything for real in years. Maybe he should work on that. He joined father and daughter at the table, sitting across from LaRusso.

“So,” LaRusso said, fidgeting as his gaze darted from Johnny to Sam.

“Were you fooling around with my dad before the divorce?” Sam landed a glare on him.

“Sam!” LaRusso gasped out, scandalized.

Johnny snorted as he reached for the glass in front of him. He hoped it wasn’t some fancy ass beer. “No, I still hated his guts.”

Sam narrowed her eyes like she suspected him of lying. Johnny gulped down the beer. It tasted like a Coors, and he flicked his gaze to LaRusso.

“I already told you,” red splotches dotted LaRusso’s cheeks, “we only realized our feelings when we went on that trip for the last couple of days.”

“Mom always suspected there was something more to the whole rivalry thing.” Sam shrugged. “You apparently talked about him a lot. Pretty boy with golden locks, or something like that.”

Johnny grinned as LaRusso swallowed. “You called me pretty?”

“No.” LaRusso glared, but the color on his cheeks darkened. “And anyway, I don’t cheat on people. I didn’t know about my feelings for Johnny then, and even if I had acknowledged them, I wouldn’t have acted on them. I wouldn’t have hurt Amanda like that.” He lowered his gaze to his plate. “I guess I still hurt her in the end.”

Sam shifted in her seat, actually looking guilty. “Sorry, dad. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. It’s just,” she glanced at Johnny, “weird that you’re together now. I don’t… hate the idea. I just need a bit of time.”

Johnny wasn’t surprised, but he did feel a twist of worry in his gut. How was Robby going to take this news? He tried to push that thought from his mind. “Miguel seems pretty okay with it.” He ignored when both their heads popped up to stare at him. It was almost comical how similarly they looked in that moment. “I spoke with him this morning.”

“How is he?” LaRusso worried his lower lip. Sam’s gaze darted to her phone like she was itching to text Miguel about this development between her father and Johnny.

“He’s doing good. Working hard with his physical therapy.”

“That’s good.” LaRusso relaxed; relief in his expressive eyes.

Johnny nodded. “He also agreed to see Robby again.”

“That’s-”

“He’s seen Robby?” Sam stared at him with wide, surprised eyes.

“They talked once already. I was thinking maybe next weekend we could take Miguel with us to see Robby.”

“Can I go too?” Sam turned her hopeful gaze to her father.

LaRusso looked to Johnny, perhaps seeking his opinion on the matter. Johnny shrugged. “I’m not sure.” He turned back to his daughter. “With everything that happened between Robby and Miguel-”

“But that’s why I need to go.” Sam pouted. “Miguel and I have already talked about things, but I haven’t gotten to talk with Robby at all. And I - I should apologize to him.”

“Talking is what we wanted,” Johnny said.

LaRusso sighed and bobbed his head. “Yeah, it is. Okay.” He smiled at Sam. “We’ll take you with us.”

Sam smiled, and some of the awkwardness of their dinner melted away. Sam talked about school and her friends, and she seemed to warm up a bit more to Johnny. LaRusso was happy and relaxed, relieved his daughter wasn’t scowling at Johnny anymore. After they finished eating, Sam had to get back to her mother’s house. Johnny washed up their dishes while LaRusso said goodnight to her.

When he returned to the kitchen, LaRusso slipped his arms around Johnny’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. “You didn’t have to dress up, you know.”

“So, you like it?” Johnny smirked.

“Mmhm. Very dashing.” LaRusso pressed feathery kisses to Johnny’s neck.

Johnny tilted his head, leaning back into him. “That’s very distracting.” But so were LaRusso’s hands undoing the buttons of his shirt. He gave up on the dishes. Turning around in LaRusso’s arms, he kissed him. He waited all night to do that and couldn’t resist for one more moment. LaRusso eagerly returned the kiss, pressing into him.


	9. Chapter 9

This time when they went to the juvenile detention center, it was in an open area, and they all sat around at one of the round tables. They had already waited for half an hour since being brought into the room. Sam twisted the end of her braid, anxiously biting at her lower lip. Miguel leaned back in his seat, a leg bouncing. LaRusso bit at his thumbnail, his usual nervous habit. Johnny wished he drank a beer before they got here.

Then the doors opened, and Robby was brought into the room. Johnny stood, wanting to hug his son, but he stopped himself. Robby probably wouldn’t appreciate that gesture, and he doubted the guard would allow him. Johnny settled for an awkward wave then felt incredibly stupid.

“I didn’t know all of you were coming.” Robby sat down opposite them. His brow furrowed when he glanced at LaRusso. Then his gaze turned to Johnny, and his mouth pursed. “What’s going on?”

Johnny flicked his gaze to LaRusso, who had dropped his hand away from his mouth. Now, he was rolling his lip between his teeth. “We had an idea,” Johnny said, focusing his attention back on Robby. “But before we decide anything, we thought it would be good to talk about everything.”

“What’s the idea?” Robby’s gaze kept moving from each one of their faces.

“Johnny and I were thinking of opening a dojo together,” LaRusso explained. “A blend of our two styles, but we’re not training anyone to fight against Kreese’s students. But we don’t want to do this if you and Miguel are going to be uncomfortable around each other.”

“I don’t have any problems with it,” Miguel said. “I think we cleared things up pretty well the last time we talked.”

Robby nodded his agreement. “We both did stupid stuff we regret. But we’re okay now.”

LaRusso relaxed a little. “That’s good.”

“I wanted to apologize too,” Sam jumped in, no longer able to keep her silence. She sat up straighter with her eyes lowered. “I thought I was over Miguel, but I wasn’t. I didn’t mean to hurt you. And I should have listened to you and not drank so much at that party.”

LaRusso jerked his head around to his daughter. Johnny kicked his foot under the table. LaRusso already knew about the drinking. But now was not the time for LaRusso to go into lecture mode about underaged drinking. LaRusso still shot him a glare.

“And I definitely shouldn’t have kissed Miguel,” Sam continued, oblivious to or simply ignoring the little interaction between the adults. Robby, on the other hand, shot them a look with his brow knitting.

“I think we share the blame there,” Miguel said, frowning. “I could have stopped you, but I was being stupid. I wanted to kiss you. I never really got over you. Which,” he sighed, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling, “I know is really unfair to Tory. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with her.”

Robby glanced between Miguel and Sam. Then he sighed. “I knew Sam still had feelings for you, Miguel. I still acted selfishly because I had feelings for Sam. I knew I shouldn’t have acted on those feelings.” He sighed, staring down at his hands in his lap. “All of this could have been avoided if I had just stayed out of things between the two of you.”

“I never should have gotten jealous when the two of you showed up at the party,” Miguel said. “I should have let Sam explain things.”

“Yeah, you should have.” Sam huffed then looked guilty for still being angry. “I was trying to tell you I got grounded and my mom wouldn’t even let me text you to tell you that.”

“You were grounded? And you snuck out to a party?” LaRusso shouted in alarm.

“Mom was being a little ridiculous. I was the one who told Yasmine we should call the cops or whatever after she hit his car.” Sam waved her hand at Johnny.

Johnny smirked smugly when LaRusso turned his gaze on him. “It’s water under the bridge. And this is supposed to be about the kids working their shit out.”

“To be fair, you were kind of scary when you came running up to the car.”

“I was a lot drunk and a little pissed to have my car hit.” Johnny sighed, shaking his head. “And I guess I could have handled the situation better.”

“Anyway,” Sam turned back to Miguel, “the only reason I showed up with Robby was because he helped spring me out of being grounded long enough to stop by the party.”

“I don’t want to listen to any more of this,” LaRusso muttered, pressing his fingers to his eyes.

Johnny snorted. “Like you weren’t starting shit as a teenager, LaRusso.”

LaRusso dropped his hands into his lap and glared at Johnny. “And you made sure to pay me back for it. Except you had four buddies helping you.”

“I never denied being an asshole.” Johnny shrugged.

Robby leaned over the table toward Miguel and Sam. “What’s going on with them?”

Even trying to be quiet, Johnny still heard him. Miguel and Sam shared a glance. They had definitely talked about them in texts. Then they glanced toward Johnny and LaRusso. Johnny sighed. He knew they would have to tell Robby eventually, but now his nerves were kicking in. He didn’t want to mess things up with Robby, and this news could ruin everything.

“Maybe you two could give us a moment alone with Robby?” LaRusso suggested.

Sam stood up then helped Miguel to his feet, handing him his crutches. They moved to another table but were still well within earshot. Robby kept glancing between them, waiting for an explanation of what was happening.

“So,” Johnny said, leaning forward on the table, “there is something we need to tell you.” He dropped his gaze. He didn’t want to see the anger on Robby’s face if this went south. “LaRusso and I went away for a couple of days to figure shit out. With the whole Kreese situation. With you kids. And-” Why was this so much harder? He tried to get the words out, but they kept sticking in his throat. LaRusso’s hand took his, lacing their fingers together as he squeezed Johnny’s hand.

“We’re dating.” It came out easily from LaRusso’s mouth, but his hand tightened around Johnny’s hand like he was trying to keep it from shaking. His tone was calm with an undertone of worry. He was just as scared of Robby’s reaction, but he was trying to push through that fear. The silence stretched on, and Johnny rubbed his thumb over LaRusso’s hand, hoping to soothe some of the tension out of him.

“I knew it.” Robby’s laugh jolted both of them. Johnny’s head snapped up, and LaRusso sat ramrod straight. “That whole rivalry thing. I knew there had to be something more to it. You were practically obsessed with each other. You could never take your eyes off each other whenever you were in the same room. It was like magnets. As soon as you were in the same room, bam! Your eyes locked.”

“So,” Johnny swallowed, “you’re okay with this?”

Robby rolled his eyes, smirking. “If it gets the two of you to stop being idiots.”

Johnny released the breath he was holding, hanging his head. Beside him, LaRusso relaxed.

“Did you really think I was going to be angry about this?” Robby frowned.

“It seems like everything I do messes up everything.” Johnny sighed. “And I didn’t want to fuck up again.”

Robby shifted in his seat. “Well, I mean, you’re trying. I’m not going to be angry about that.”

“Can we come back over now?” Miguel asked.

“Yeah,” Johnny said, leaning back in his chair. “So, uh, have you heard anything more about when you’ll get out?”

“Oh, yeah! It’d be great to spar against you!” Miguel grinned as he reached the table. “You know, once I can start training again.”

“Maybe another month or two?” Robby shrugged. “Hopefully.” He nodded to Miguel as he sat again. “What about you? Getting off those things anytime soon?”

“Doctors say my recovery is going well. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer.” Miguel sighed, and guilt flashed across Robby’s face.

“So, what’s the next step?” Sam asked.

“First off, no more drinking.” LaRusso landed a stern stare on all three of the teens. “I know I can’t stop you from going to parties. But at the very least, I don’t want anything like what happened before happening again. And I don’t want you trying to hide stuff from us. We’re supposed to take care of you and make sure you’re safe. I know we’ve done a shit job of that so far, but we’re trying to do better now. So, no drinking. No lying.”

All three teens nodded with varying degrees of guilt on their faces.

“Our next step,” LaRusso said when he was satisfied, “is Hawk and Tory.”

“Uh, sorry, Mr. L, but I don’t think you’ll convince them to leave Cobra Kai.” Miguel winced.

“It’s not about convincing them to leave.” Johnny sat back, folding his arms. “Ultimately, yes, it would be great if we could get all of them to leave Kreese. But right now, our main goal is getting everyone involved in the school fight to talk things out. LaRusso and I were able to talk things out. The three of you could talk things out. We need this to happen. And we know it won’t be easy. It’s going to be hard enough convincing Kreese’s students to even talk to us. But we have to try. Nothing about this situation will get resolved if we just sit and let the bitterness and anger continue to stew.” Johnny glanced to LaRusso, who met his gaze. “We know that from over thirty years of holding onto a stupid rivalry.”

“But how are you going to get any of them to talk to us?” Sam asked with a nervous quiver in her voice. She held her arm where Johnny knew she still had scars from when Tory’s spiked bracelet cut her.

Johnny turned his gaze to Miguel. “Do you think any of them will still talk to you?”

“I’ve gotten some messages from them. After the fight. I might be able to get Hawk to come visit me.” Miguel bit his lip. “But Tory won’t talk to me.”

“What about Aisha? She and Tory seemed pretty close.”

“We could try.” Miguel shrugged.

“What happens if this doesn’t work?” Robby asked, frowning down at his hands as he picked at the hem of his shirt.

“Then we’ll try to think of something else,” LaRusso said. “We know there’s a large chance this won’t work. But the fighting needs to stop. We can’t let Kreese keep this ‘war’ of his going.”

Johnny noticed the guard coming their way and sighed. “Looks like our time is up.”

Robby glanced up to him, an almost smile ghosting over his face. “Thanks for coming again.”

Johnny nodded as Robby stood. “We’ll try to come again.”

Now, the smile actually showed on Robby’s face. Then the guard led him back out of the room. None of them moved until the door closed behind him.

“I wish he didn’t end up here,” Miguel said, kicking at the leg of the table. “I was pretty mad at him after I first woke up. I had a lot of time laying in that hospital bed to think about things. They even had a therapist come in to talk with me. I’m glad they convinced me to talk with Robby that first time. I felt a lot better after that. It kind of sucks that he ended up here because of one mistake. And I know it was a serious mistake. Trust me.” He leveled a stare on them. “I know. But I know how badly he feels about what he did.”

“It’s unfortunate, but you have to face the consequences of your actions.” Johnny frowned. “I wish he wasn’t in there either.”

“We should probably start heading back,” LaRusso said, though he didn’t immediately move to get up. “Amanda and Carmen will be waiting for them to come home.”

Johnny sighed, pushing himself up from the chair. “Right. Let’s get going then.”

They were all silent as they left the detention center. LaRusso unlocked the doors of his Audi and climbed into the driver’s seat. Johnny helped Miguel into the backseat, laying the crutches flat on the floor. Then he climbed into the passenger’s seat.

“Who do we want to try first?” Miguel asked as they started the long drive back.

“One at a time, huh?” Sam nodded. “Yeah, that makes more sense. Meeting with both of them at once could go horribly wrong.”

“What do you think, LaRusso?” Johnny glanced over to him.

LaRusso bit at his lip, tapping a finger against the steering wheel. “Tory was the one to initiate the fight at school. Maybe starting with her would be best.”

“Oh. Does it have to be her first?”

Johnny tossed a glance into the backseat. Sam paled considerably at the prospect of having to speak with Tory. “Look, kid. It has to happen sooner or later. In this case, I think sooner might be better. Rip off the Band-Aid and get it over with.”

“I would say I’ll be right there with you,” Miguel grimaced, “but I think that would be a terrible idea. Given, well, why the fight started in the first place.” He had his phone out, already typing out a text to Aisha. Hopefully, she would be able to convince Tory to meet somewhere.

Sam offered a weak smile. “Thanks anyway though.”

Johnny flipped through the radio stations until he landed on a decent song to fill the silent car. It remained like that for the rest of the ride.


	10. Chapter 10

Johnny frowned as he watched LaRusso pacing around the kitchen. His hand was to his mouth, maybe not even aware he was biting at his nails. Twenty minutes passed, and Johnny couldn’t take it anymore. After he threw the papers down on the table, he stood and walked to the kitchen. He placed himself in front of LaRusso, forcing him to stop, and pulled the hand away from his mouth.

“You have to stop stressing yourself out,” Johnny told him.

LaRusso took a breath then released it shakily. “I know. It’s just this has to go well.” He frowned, the worry deep in his eyes. “I don’t know all the details of what led to the school fight, but I can’t see Sam hurt again.”

“She’s not going to get hurt. We’re going to be there to make sure no fighting happens.”

LaRusso frowned. “The thing that worries me is that Tory won’t talk with us.”

Johnny sighed, pulling LaRusso closer. “We can’t know how this is going to turn out, and you’re going to drive yourself mad with stress if you keep this up. Can we try to just relax for tonight?”

“I’ll try.” But the frown stuck on his face.

Johnny snaked an arm around LaRusso’s waist and pulled him flush against him. “I can think of some ways to get you to relax.”

Some of the tension melted away as a smile slipped onto LaRusso’s face. “Oh, really?”

Johnny grinned as he leaned in, brushing his lips over LaRusso’s. LaRusso pressed into him, bringing up a hand, cupping his face, then sliding his hand back to tangle in Johnny’s hair. They kissed, and Johnny guided him back until he bumped into the kitchen counter. Hooking his hands around LaRusso’s thighs, he hoisted him up onto the counter. His hands settled on LaRusso’s thighs, rubbing slow circles with his thumbs. LaRusso pulled his lip between his teeth, and Johnny groaned into the kiss.

A buzzing broke them apart. Johnny sighed, hanging his head, and LaRusso pressed his forehead into the top of Johnny’s head.

“Sorry. I should take that.” LaRusso pulled his head up and kissed him quickly on the lips. “I’ll try to make this fast.” He slipped down off the counter and snatched his phone up from the table as he passed by on his way to step outside.

Johnny grumbled to the empty kitchen as he raked a hand through his hair. They were just getting into the mood, and he doubted that phone call would be short. He walked back over to the table and picked up the papers he was reading. Then he dropped onto the couch, stretching out with his feet hanging over one armrest. He flipped through the papers, glancing at some of the photos. They checked out a few locations so far, but Johnny wasn’t completely sold on any of them. They still didn’t even have a name yet.

After some time, Jonny sighed and tossed the papers back onto the table. He would rather go to look at the locations in person than flip through information on paper. At least, none of the locations were anywhere close to the strip mall where Kreese was teaching. Johnny ground his teeth as he shot to his feet. He built that place! It still pissed him off that Kreese swooped in and stole it right under his nose. All that work he did with those kids! Kreese only had to pluck a few strings, whisper a few words into their ears, and suddenly those kids turned on him like he was the enemy. His fists clenched, nails biting into his palms. He wanted to ring Kreese’s throat for twisting those kids’ heads like that. He knew exactly how it felt having Kreese in his head, and it disgusted him to see it happening again. Even worse because it was his fault.

He stormed his way to the bathroom, shedding his clothes as soon as the door closed behind him. The water blasted against him, and he hoped the coldness would cut through the heat of his anger. Pressing his forehead against the wall under the spray, he pounded a fist against the wall. Several minutes passed before he finally came back from the angry spiral. They had a plan, and he needed to focus on that. He flipped the water over to hot, his teeth chattering as he shivered.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, Johnny wrapped a towel around his waist. He checked the front room and frowned when he didn’t see LaRusso anywhere. After checking the bedroom and finding it also empty, he sighed. The phone call was taking longer than he thought. He dug through his bag until he found a pair of sweatpants to throw on. It was still strange being in LaRusso’s house, in his bedroom. It was completely different from how Johnny imagined after seeing the house in Encino. He laid down on the bed and frowned. He was going to have to convince LaRusso to get a better mattress.

Johnny jerked awake sometime later, not sure when he even fell asleep. He sat up, rubbing at his eyes. LaRusso hadn’t come to bed yet. Johnny got up and wandered his way out of the bedroom. He found LaRusso at the table, his laptop open, and his head resting on the table. Shaking his head, Johnny walked over, gently pulling the glasses from LaRusso and setting them aside. He squinted at the computer screen until he noted the time, well past one in the morning. Placing his hand on LaRusso’s shoulder, he gave him a little shake.

“Hey,” Johnny said as LaRusso muttered in his sleep, “come to bed. You’re going to have a sore back if you sleep here.” He helped LaRusso to his feet.

“I need to get the report finished.” LaRusso tried to sit back down, but Johnny wouldn’t let him.

“That can wait. You’re dead on your feet. That report will sound like gibberish if you try to finish it right now. Besides, I need you to be rested for tomorrow.”

Johnny pushed LaRusso toward the bedroom. LaRusso didn’t fight him when Johnny helped him get ready for bed. After he made sure all the lights were out, he climbed into bed with LaRusso, who immediately pressed into him and nuzzled his head into his neck. Johnny kissed his forehead as he pulled LaRusso closer.

“Your mattress sucks,” he muttered against LaRusso’s head.

“It’s a futon,” LaRusso murmured, drifting off to sleep.

“Still sucks.” Johnny settled into the bed and soon followed LaRusso into sleep.

The alarm beeping woke him as sunlight filled the bedroom. Johnny grumbled, pawing around with his hand to find the offending clock. When he found it on the nightstand, he knocked it onto the floor. It crashed with a satisfying clatter, and the room fell into blissful silence.

“Are you breaking my stuff?” LaRusso pulled away from him.

“No,” Johnny snaked his arms around LaRusso’s waist before he could get out of bed, “just ending that obnoxious noise.” He dragged him closer, LaRusso’s back pressing flush against his chest. He leaned in and left a trail of kisses down LaRusso’s neck.

“Johnny,” LaRusso said, somewhere between a whine and moan. “We can’t stay in bed. We have that thing today.” He wiggled out of Johnny’s hold and climbed out of bed.

Johnny rolled onto his back and sighed at the ceiling. “But that’s not until the afternoon.”

“I still have to get those reports finished.” LaRusso dug through his closet, and Johnny turned his head, letting his gaze roam over his bare back.

“That can wait a little longer, can’t it?”

LaRusso glanced back, and Johnny grinned at him. Coming back to the bed, he leaned on the mattress - futon, whatever - then captured Johnny’s mouth in a slow, lazy kiss. Johnny cradled LaRusso’s head as he snaked an arm around his waist. He pulled LaRusso all the way back onto the bed. When they broke the kiss, Johnny cupped LaRusso’s face, brushing his thumb over the stubble.

“I love this.”

LaRusso chuckled. “Really? I’m pretty sure Amanda wants me to shave it.”

“Screw her.” Johnny kissed him again. “She doesn’t get a say.”

“Well, if you like it so much, I’ll keep it.”

“It’s very sexy.” Johnny settled his hand on LaRusso’s waist, teasing the waistband of his boxers. His lips brushed over the stubble then he dipped his head to kiss along LaRusso’s neck.

LaRusso failed to hold back a moan, but he caught Johnny’s hand before he could tug down his boxers. “I should get started on breakfast.”

“Don’t need breakfast when I have you.” Johnny lightly nipped at his shoulder.

“Johnny,” LaRusso said in a little more serious tone.

Johnny sighed as he pulled away. “Okay. Fine. Your mattress is uncomfortable anyway.”

LaRusso rolled his eyes and returned to his closet. “Fine. We can look for a new mattress some other time.”

“Or we could have just gone back to my place.” Johnny grabbed some clean clothes from his bag. He could already imagine the way LaRusso’s nose wrinkled at the suggestion. His apartment was better than that first motel room. “I’ll even clean it up a bit for you.”

“Just for me?” LaRusso turned to him, batting his eyes like a lovesick fool.

Johnny threw his sweatpants at him, and LaRusso danced out of the way. He tugged on a pair of worn jeans. “So, are we doing a back and forth thing?” He bent down and snatched up his shirt. “I know you won’t give up this place. And I won’t make you. I know it holds too much meaning to you. But I don’t feel like I really fit in here.”

LaRusso stared at him, some gleam in his eyes that Johnny couldn’t place. Then he shook his head. “Wait. Are you already thinking about if we moved in together?”

“No.” Johnny turned away, yanking on his shirt. “We’ve barely even started seeing each other. Moving in together this soon would be like asking for a quick end to our relationship.” When Johnny turned back, LaRusso lifted an eyebrow as he shrugged into a plaid button up shirt. “What? I’ve had plenty of relationships in the past. One of the biggest mistakes was moving too fast.”

LaRusso held up his hands. “Fair point. So, for now, we just do one place or the other? Should I pack up a few things to leave at your place?”

Johnny shrugged. “I guess.”

LaRusso nodded, thinking things over as he left the room. “I guess we’ll still have to look for a new mattress.”

Johnny followed him to the kitchen where LaRusso immediately started making breakfast. They ate together, but LaRusso was distracted, working at his laptop to finish up the reports for the dealership. He rubbed at his forehead, soothing away the wrinkles, every now and then. Johnny hated seeing him so stressed. He had to nudge LaRusso once or twice to remind him to finish his breakfast, which was worrisome.

“It’s not always like this,” LaRusso assured him after he closed the laptop. “Sometimes with sales, it can get a bit crazy.”

Johnny gathered up the dishes before LaRusso could. He still looked too tired, and Johnny was tempted to suggest they go back to bed and sleep a while longer. But in a few hours, they would have to leave to meet up with the kids. Johnny’s mouth pressed thin as he washed the dishes. It was important for this to go well, but he could see it blowing up in their faces. Tory was stubborn and one of the students Kreese sank his claws into the deepest. It was going to be difficult getting her to listen to them, especially if she took this meeting as an ambush. When he glanced back, he caught LaRusso biting at his nails again, perhaps having similar thoughts about the meeting.

After he finished with washing the dishes, Johnny walked over and grabbed LaRusso’s arm. He dragged him over to the couch and sat down, pulling LaRusso down with him. Before LaRusso had a chance to protest and move, Johnny wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer. He leaned forward just long enough to grab the remote off the table then leaned back as he flipped on the television.

LaRusso sighed, resting his head on Johnny’s shoulder as he laid his arm over his waist. “Fine. I get it. I should try to relax.”

Johnny smirked in satisfaction as he worked his way through the many channels available. A lot of them were playing crap. It was like they didn’t know how to make good movies or shows anymore. He finally found a channel playing a movie from the 80’s, though he couldn’t remember it very well. It was still better than any of the other junk, though he would have preferred watching _Iron Eagle_. Again. For probably the billionth time.

Placing the remote on the armrest, Johnny settled in for at least some mild entertainment. With any luck, it would make the time pass quickly so they weren’t sitting there anxiously waiting for when it was time to leave and meet up with the kids. When a commercial break interrupted the movie, Johnny flicked his gaze to LaRusso, readying a comment about the movie. But LaRusso’s eyes were closed, and his mouth slightly parted. Johnny smiled fondly before dropping a kiss to the top of his head. LaRusso needed all the rest he could get after he stressed out for the past few days since Miguel texted them that Aisha got Tory to agree to meet up. How they managed it, Johnny had no idea, but he would bet it didn’t involve the whole truth.


	11. Chapter 11

“You two really need to learn how to relax,” Johnny said, tossing a glance to the LaRussos. Both of them looked ready to have a nervous breakdown. Johnny sighed. He had hoped the little nap would get rid of the nerves, but LaRusso bit at his thumbnail the whole time in the car ride over. Sam was just as bad as her father, biting her lip as she twisted the end of her braid. They were making him nervous!

“Sorry,” LaRusso mumbled, stuffing his hands into his pockets, perhaps to keep them from fidgeting.

“Tory and I don’t exactly have the greatest track record with our encounters,” Sam said, frowning.

Johnny looked forward again as they neared the picnic table in the park. He could see Tory and Aisha already sitting there. Aisha spotted them first. She almost smiled, but she looked tense. Johnny couldn’t blame her for that. There was a lot at stake with this meeting. Tory followed Aisha’s gaze. Then she was immediately on her feet. Johnny gestured for the LaRussos to hang back. They couldn’t risk spooking her off before they even had the chance to speak. Johnny approached alone, praying Tory would give him a chance.

“So, now you do ambushes?” Tory snapped in a biting tone, cold eyes glaring at him when he stood opposite her at the picnic table.

“This isn’t an ambush,” Johnny said. The look in her eyes hurt. It felt like a stab right into his heart. “We just wanted to talk.”

“Talk?” Tory huffed, folding her arms. “Right. And why should I listen to anything any of you have to say? You,” she ground out the word, “betrayed us. You’re the reason Miguel got hurt. Because he tried to follow that whole mercy shit you sprouted.”

“And you think I don’t hate myself for everything that happened?” Johnny wanted to remain calm and in control, but the memory of seeing Miguel lying unconscious in the hospital made his voice thick with emotion. “Miguel was my very first student. He was the first person to actually believe in me. He trusted me, and I let him down. And regret that every day.”

“He was nearly paralyzed!” Tory shouted.

“I know.”

“And it was your son that did that!”

“I know.” Johnny’s shoulders slumped miserably.

“If he hadn’t shown mercy, Miguel wouldn’t have been hurt.”

“Maybe. But it wouldn’t have stopped all the other hurt and pain that was happening. And _that’s_ ,” Johnny leveled a meaningful stare on her, “why we want to talk. Too much shit has been going down lately, and too many people are getting hurt. It needs to stop. We need to do more talking and less fighting.”

Tory’s gaze flicked past him to where LaRusso and Sam waited, silently. “So, now you’re listening to the enemy?” she hissed, her body tensing like she was preparing for a fight.

“There are no enemies, Tory!” Johnny barked, and she went stiff, her eyes growing wide at the thread of anger lacing his voice. “This isn’t a war. You’re just kids. And there’s not just one side to this story. You think you’re in the right to strike back because they hit first, but they might be thinking the exact same thing. The way you see the world isn’t the whole truth. There’s another side, and sometimes, you have to look past your personal feelings to see the other person’s perspective. I wish I had realized that years ago. Decades ago! Maybe we could have saved ourselves from all of this stupid drama. But I can’t undo what’s already been done. All I can do now is try to stop it from happening again.”

Tory jerked from her stunned state then snarled at him. “And what? You think we’re just going to forgive and forget? You think Miguel’s just going to get over what happened to him?”

“He’s already forgiven Robby.”

Tory froze at that announcement. She didn’t know. Of course, she didn’t. Miguel had to go through Aisha just to get Tory to come to this meeting. Johnny wanted to think it was funny that Tory kept trying to use Miguel’s injury to justify things when she didn’t even speak to him anymore. But nothing about any of this was funny.

Tory huffed. “So, he is with the enemy too, after all.”

“Tory,” Aisha pleaded, looking at the other girl. “Maybe we could at least hear them out. What harm could there really be in talking?”

“Right. Talking.” Tory folded her arms. “Why don’t we get Sensei Kreese down here too then? Seems a little unfair with the two of you here.” Her glare was on LaRusso rather than Johnny.

“No,” Johnny said, drawing her attention back to him. “I already said this isn’t an ambush. LaRusso and I are going to leave the talking up to the three of you. We won’t interfere unless any of you make things physical. We want to talk, not to fight.”

“So, why can’t Kreese be here?” Tory was stubborn.

“You know why.” Aisha frowned when Tory glared at her.

“Because that would be fair,” Tory spat out.

“No, because Kreese would twist this to make sure it turns into a fight. Kreese wants this to be a war. He wants us to keep thinking of everyone as an enemy. We have to win?” Aisha shook her head. “But what are we winning when it’s not a tournament? We’re just beating each other up and losing friends. There’s a reason I didn’t go back to Cobra Kai, Tory. I trust Sensei Lawrence. He cares about us. Kreese doesn’t care about anything except winning and making everyone into his perfect little soldiers.”

“And he doesn’t take failure well,” Johnny added, frowning tightly. “The moment you fail him, he’ll choke you to near death then dump you like trash.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Tory argued, but he could see the glimmer of doubt in her eyes.

“I thought that too. I thought Kreese was like a father.” Johnny held back the shiver when he felt the phantom arm squeezing around his throat. “And he used that to weasel his way back into my life. Because despite everything, some part of me still wanted his approval.” Why was he so stupid? He could see it so easily in retrospect, but in the moment, he was blind to it. “Because I thought, maybe if he could change, if he could be redeemed, it meant I could too. But he didn’t change. He just got better at pulling the strings and spinning the lies you want to hear. He’s not a good sensei, and he’ll just leave you twisted and broken inside. Talking things out and forgiving people isn’t a weakness. It takes a lot of courage and strength both to admit when you’re wrong and seek forgiveness and to forgive those who wronged you.”

“That’s a lot of pretty words.” Tory stubbornly clung to her belief in Kreese. Were they too late? Did Kreese sink his claws too deeply into these kids? How much worse was it going to be with Hawk?

“Tory, let’s hear Sam out,” Aisha said, trying to make Tory sit next to her again. “We don’t have to become friends,” Tory snorted, “but maybe we can at least tolerate being around each other. We go to the same school after all.”

“Whatever.” Tory huffed, and Johnny wondered if she would actually listen to anything Sam had to say to her.

Johnny walked back over to LaRusso and Sam. “It’s on you now.” He patted a hand on her shoulder, and he hated to put so much responsibility on her shoulders when she was just a kid. But this was the kids’ mess to sort out. He and LaRusso could talk until they were blue in the face, but it would mean nothing if the kids weren’t the ones talking things out.

Sam gave a jerky nod before she walked over to the table. She sat down opposite the other two girls. Her back was stiff.

“She’s a tough one,” LaRusso murmured.

“They’re all tough.” Johnny folded his arms. He already felt restless, needing something to do before the waiting drove him crazy. But they needed to stay there and be alert in case one of the girls decided to use fists instead of words. Aisha, at least, seemed like she might be able to mediate things between the other two.

“I shouldn’t have kissed Miguel,” Sam said, her voice carrying over to where Johnny and LaRusso stood. A slight tremor could be heard. She was scared, but anyone would be scared when having to admit their wrongs. “I tried to deny having feelings for him still, but I always kind of knew I wasn’t over him. But that gave me no right to kiss him. I knew he was with you, and I should have respected that. I was selfish. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry you got hurt because of my selfishness.”

“I don’t forgive you.” Tory turned her head so she wasn’t even looking at Sam.

“She does sound sorry about it,” Aisha said.

“No, she doesn’t have to forgive me if she doesn’t want to.” Sam shook her head. “I’m also sorry about the country club. When my mom’s wallet went missing, I shouldn’t have assumed you did it. I remembered you taking the alcohol,” LaRusso frowned next to Johnny, but he didn’t immediately fly off the handle at that comment, “and I jumped to conclusions. That was wrong of me. I think - No.” Sam shook her head. “I _know_ I wanted an excuse to paint you in a bad light. I was jealous because you were becoming good friends with Aisha, and I didn’t want to lose Aisha as my friend. But that doesn’t excuse my actions. It just makes me a bad friend.” She hung her head.

“There’s an understatement.” Tory scoffed.

“At least she’s admitting to what she’s done wrong,” Aisha protested. “Two wrongs don’t make a right. Your response to her actions weren’t any better.”

Tory’s mouth pursed, and her eyes twitched, but she didn’t want to admit that Aisha was right.

“I shouldn’t have pushed you at the skating rink,” Sam continued, her head still hanging. Her hands fidgeted like LaRusso when he got nervous. “I wanted payback for you pushing me. And I can understand why you would be mad at me if you saw Miguel talking to me. We were only talking though. There was only that one kiss at the party.”

Tory leaned forward on the table, her eyes narrowing at Sam. “Do you really think saying all of this will make me forgive you?”

Sam lifted her head, and Johnny could tell from her posture that she was glaring right back. “No. Because if this was reversed, I probably wouldn’t want to forgive you either. Whether you decide to forgive me or not is up to you. But I still needed to say all of this. I needed to be honest about everything. I’m tired of all this anger and hatred. I don’t want to hate you. We don’t have to be friends, but we also don’t have to be enemies.”

“What’s the point in all this fighting?” Aisha pleaded with Tory. “What’s the point in hurting everyone? I joined Cobra Kai, I followed Sensei Lawrence, so I could become strong and confident because I wanted to be able to face the people who were bullying me and be able to stand up to them with my head held high. I didn’t take up karate to look at everyone as an enemy or to make them fear me. That’s not what karate is for.”

“Are you about to start sprouting that defense shit to me?” Tory scowled at her.

“Karate can be offense and defense.” Aisha shook her head. “But it doesn’t have to make you cold and cruel.”

“I’m done listening to this.” Tory stood.

Aisha grabbed her wrist before she could leave. “I think you should finally talk to Miguel about everything that happened.”

Tory ripped her arm free then stormed away from the picnic table. Sam sighed, the tension leaving her body. Aisha frowned as she watched her friend disappear in the distance.

“I honestly can’t tell if that went well or not,” Johnny muttered, raking a hand through his hair. He really hoped they would have a breakthrough, but it felt like they were stuck at a standstill.

“There was no fighting,” LaRusso mumbled in a flat voice. “I guess that’s something.”

Johnny placed a hand to LaRusso’s back, rubbing it gently. “Maybe she just needs some time.” He wanted to hang onto any little shred of hope he could manage. Next, they would have to try getting Hawk to speak with Demetri. Johnny grimaced at the thought of how that would go. “Hey,” he called out to the girls, “you want to get some pizza? LaRusso’s paying.”

LaRusso rolled his eyes. “Of course, I am.” But his smile was light and teasing. He wasn’t mad.

“What’s going on with your dad and Sensei Lawrence?” Aisha asked Sam, not as quietly as she might have thought. Her brow wrinkled, and Sam shot a glance over to them.

Johnny smirked at the idea that sprung into his head as the pair of teens walked toward them. LaRusso glanced his way, and Johnny smirked wider.

“Johnny, what-”

Johnny tugged him close, catching his mouth before LaRusso could finish his question. LaRusso placed a hand against his chest and attempted to push away as a loud gasp reached their ears. When Johnny prodded his tongue against his mouth, LaRusso’s lips immediately parted. Johnny pressed him closer as their tongues rubbed against each other. LaRusso’s hand curled around Johnny’s shirt, his early fight leaving him as he melted into Johnny.

“Ugh, parents are so embarrassing!” Sam complained, and Johnny had to laugh into the kiss. But LaRusso pulled away at the comment, a blush tingeing his cheeks.

“How long has this been going on?” Aisha was gawking when Johnny glanced over to them.

“They went away on a trip recently.” Sam shrugged. “When they came back, they were a thing.”

LaRusso rubbed at his temples. “Great. Now the kids are all going to be gossiping about us.”

“Who cares?” Johnny shrugged as he turned to walk back to the car. “You need to stop caring so much about what people think.”

“I think it’s great,” Aisha piped up, a grin in her voice. “The two of you were able to work things out. Maybe there’s hope for the rest of us.”

“Can we not announce our relationship to everyone like that?” LaRusso mumbled, walking at his side.

“You liked the kiss.” Johnny smirked when LaRusso’s face darkened with another blush.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked Aisha. “Are you hoping to hook up with someone the way they did?”

“I don’t know. But it does make for a good ‘how did you get together’ story, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sam agreed. “A three decade long rivalry, and then they shag one weekend. A love story for the ages.” She and Aisha laughed. LaRusso practically choked in response, and Johnny laughed so hard, tears sprung to his eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

“Isn’t Mr. L supposed to be here by now?” Miguel looked up at him with a worried frown.

Johnny pulled out his phone and checked the messages again. LaRusso hadn’t sent him anything in over an hour when texted to say he was on his way after stopping at home to change out of his business suit. He was running late because something came up at the dealership and he was needed to deal with it. Johnny’s jaw clenched as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. LaRusso didn’t have a habit of being late.

“We’ll just get started then. No point in waiting.” Johnny led the way to the picnic table where they planned to meet.

“I’m still not sure this is the wisest idea,” Demetri said, stumbling along behind him and Miguel. “In fact, I really think I should just head home.”

“Could you relax?” Miguel grumbled. “Sensei isn’t going to let anyone start fighting. You don’t have to be so freaked out about seeing Hawk again.”

Demetri huffed but thankfully didn’t try to make a run for it. Even if he tried, Johnny wouldn’t let him get far. When they reached the picnic table in the park, Hawk already stood there, his body tense and his face set with fury. He was ready for a fight. Johnny stopped a few feet away, and he didn’t have to say anything to make the other two teens stop too.

“Did you really think talking was going to solve anything?” Hawk asked, his glare landing on each one of them in turn. “You’re all traitors.”

This was already off to a bad start. “No one’s a-” Johnny barely got a word out before Hawk launched forward. Strike first. Johnny caught the fist, twisted Hawk’s arm behind his back, then forced him down onto his knees. His mouth thinned into a tight white line. “We’re not fighting!”

“You betrayed us. You’re weak. Now you’ve become friends with the enemy!” Hawk spat out, struggling against Johnny’s hold but was unable to break free or gain the advantage.

“There’s no enemy!” Miguel shouted, hobbling forward on his crutches. “I don’t know why you can’t understand that. Sensei Lawrence didn’t betray anyone. All he did was try to teach us to be strong. And there’s nothing weak about showing mercy.”

Hawk tilted his head up to glare at Miguel. “You wouldn’t have been hurt if you hadn’t shown mercy. But we all know the only reason he changed his mind was because it was his son that got hurt in the tournament.”

Johnny gave the arm a slight twist, earning a gasp from Hawk. “It wasn’t just because he was my son. It was because I realized I was acting no better than Kreese. I don’t want to teach how he taught me. LaRusso and I aren’t perfect. But we’re trying to find a better way.”

Hawk snorted. “And you think this is a better way?”

Johnny released him with a small shove. He watched as Hawk stood up, rubbing his arm. “I know what it’s like to be angry at the world. I let that kind of anger eat me up inside for over thirty years. I’m trying to help you all avoid repeating our mistakes.” Maybe it was better LaRusso wasn’t here for this after all. Johnny imagined Hawk’s fury would be even worse if he saw him right now. He held up his hands. “You’re all a bunch of teenagers. You say a bunch of stupid shit and piss each other off. I used to do that kind of shit all the time. With my friends. With LaRusso. I wish I had learned to talk things out and forgive shit way back then so all of this crap,” he gestured around to all of them, “wasn’t happening right now.”

“You really think all this stupid talking is going to solve anything?” Hawk snapped. “Why would any of us forgive any of you?”

“We’re friends,” Demetri said, his voice strangely quiet.

“Right.” Hawk snorted. “Friends. After that shit you pulled?”

Johnny muttered to himself when his phone rang. Fucking perfect timing! He pulled out his phone and stared at the caller, his brow creasing. “LaRusso, what the hell-”

“Johnny!” Sam’s sobbing voice hit him, and Johnny froze. “Johnny, Dad - He - And I-” Sam was barely getting words out between her sobs.

“Hey, take a breath.” Johnny raked a hand through his hair. What the hell was going on? “Can you just take a breath? And try again?” He listened to the broken sobs and the desperate attempts to get her breathing under control.

“I went over to Dad’s and - Johnny, please come to the hospital!”

Johnny opened his mouth then snapped it shut. He swallowed, but it hurt, his throat tightening. Hospital? Why did he need to go to the hospital? Why was LaRusso in the hospital? He saw Miguel staring at him with concern. Then his gaze slipped to Hawk, panic washing away his anger.

“We’re on our way.” Johnny shoved his phone back into his pocket then he grabbed Hawk’s arm. “You’re going with us.”

“No!” Hawk tried to pull free, but Johnny dragged him to the car.

“What’s going on?” Miguel asked, doing his best to keep up on his crutches.

“Did something happen to Mr. LaRusso?” Demetri asked with a tinge of worry in his voice.

“Yes,” Johnny hissed, glaring at Hawk, “something did happen.” Hawk paled under his glare, but Johnny felt no pleasure in frightening the teen. A million scenarios were playing out in his head, and he tried not to think too hard on any of them.

When they reached the car, Demetri helped Miguel into the front seat then climbed into the back with the crutches. Johnny forced Hawk into the back seat behind the driver’s seat. Then he held a finger up in Hawk’s face.

“Don’t even _think_ about running away,” Johnny said with a threat in his voice and coldness in his eyes.

Hawk blanched further as he clicked his seat belt into place. Johnny slammed the door then climbed into the driver’s seat. He did his best not to speed, but he was pretty sure he ran a few lights. Demetri babbled something about cars or driving safety or something, but Johnny wasn’t really listening. He finally shut up when Miguel snapped at him to be quiet. When he flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror, Johnny saw Hawk fidgeting with his eyes darting around. He looked like the frightened teen Johnny remembered from his first day at Cobra Kai. Maybe there was some hope to break through the tough exterior that became Hawk.

Johnny found a place to park then hauled Hawk out of the back seat while Demetri helped Miguel. Then the four of them went through the annoying process of finding out what floor they needed to go to, and none of the nurses were helpful in telling him what exactly happened to LaRusso. Johnny was grinding his teeth by the time they stepped off the elevator and found their way to the waiting area where LaRusso’s kids and ex-wife sat. Amanda and Sam looked up the moment their group arrived. The other kid, Anthony, kept his attention focused on his game. Johnny would have thought that was a little cold hearted, but then he noticed the tremble in his pudgy hands, the quiver of his lower lip, and the tears in his eyes. Johnny remembered how music used to be his escape from reality.

“Don’t move,” Johnny instructed after he forced Hawk into one of the chairs. Hawk gave a jerky nod. Demetri took a seat several chairs away from Hawk. Miguel followed Johnny as he approached the LaRussos. “What happened?”

Sam immediately broke down, and Miguel moved closer to her. She turned into him, crying on his shoulder. Amanda loosely grabbed hold of Johnny’s wrist and pulled him along, moving into the hall and away from the teens’ ears.

“Sam said she left something at Daniel’s,” Amanda explained in a quiet voice. She was trying to stay strong, but she couldn’t quite keep the tremor out of her voice. Johnny could see she wanted to break down the same way her daughter had. “When she got there, the door was open, and- and inside, the place was trashed.” She took a shaky breath, her grip tightening around his wrist. “She found him on the floor. And there was blood. And-”

Johnny tugged her closer, wrapping her in a tight embrace. It was the push she needed to let the tears fall. Fury and fear and panic and a hundred other emotions swirled inside him. He could already guess who was behind this. Hawk knew why they called him out to meet them. That meant Tory talked. If Tory talked to Hawk, she would have talked to Kreese too. Kreese knew what they were attempting to do, so he went after LaRusso.

“Have the doctors said anything yet?”

Amanda shook her head as she pulled back from him. She wiped at her eyes. “It feels like we’ve been waiting for days already.” When she looked back at him, she placed a hand on his arm, giving it a light squeeze. “So, you and Daniel.” She smirked, though it was a bit watery.

“Oh.” It was a punch to Johnny’s gut. They hadn’t told her yet. “We, uh-”

Amanda shook her head. “I love him. I’ll always love him. Even if that love hasn’t been the romantic type for a while now. I’ve known for a long time it was over, even when I was trying to cling to what we used to have. But now, I just want him to be happy. So,” she gave him a sharp look, “you better make him happy.”

“Trying my best.” Johnny didn’t know what else he could tell her. He never had a long lasting relationship. Ali with two years was probably the longest he ever had. Every other relationship always ended up getting fucked up somewhere along the way. But he didn’t want to fuck it up with LaRusso. He wanted this to work out.

“Good.” Amanda gave a curt nod. “I’ll make you regret it if you break his heart.” Somehow, Johnny knew that wasn’t an idle threat. Amanda took another moment to clear the tears from her face. Then with a deep breath, she walked back to the waiting area. Her strong front firmly back in place, for the sake of her children. How did LaRusso let her get away?

Johnny rubbed a hand over his face. How did shit turn out like this? LaRusso was too strong and stubborn to go down like this. Johnny clenched his fists, grinding his teeth, as he attempted to drive out his rage. He didn’t know if he could hold back the next time he crossed paths with Kreese. When he thought he could manage, Johnny returned to the waiting area. He stopped short when he saw Miguel and Sam sitting across from Hawk and Demetri.

“You realize how ridiculous you sound, right?” Sam demanded, her face still streaked with tears, but anger and frustration settled on her features. “You’re supposed to be friends.”

“Like you and Aisha were?” Hawk spat back.

Sam narrowed her eyes. “I made mistakes. I’ve apologized for them.”

“I said I was sorry for saying that shit at the party,” Demetri said, gesturing wildly with his hands. “For a moment, I actually thought I was getting my friend back. Then you started treating me like shit again. It hurt. So, I did something stupid to hurt you back. I shouldn’t have. I realize that now. I just wanted my friend back.” He dropped his gaze, his hands falling still in his lap.

“Yeah, well, that’s not going to happen.” Hawk crossed his arms, turning his head to look away from all of them. “All that nerd shit isn’t badass.”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Johnny walked over to them as they all looked up at him. “I don’t care if you like nerd shit. Some of the stuff _is_ badass. _Lord of the Rings_? Badass sword fights. A quest to save the world. A chick who can kill something no man can. It’s awesome.”

“You know _Lord of the Rings_?” Hawk stared at him with wide eyes of wonder. Even Demetri looked amazed.

“Yeah, I know some shit. But don’t get your hopes up.” Johnny pointed at them. “I said _some_ of it was badass.” He walked over and crouched down in front of Hawk. “Look. I was shit to you when you first showed up. I was shit to all of you. I looked at all of you and poked at the weakness I found because that’s what I was taught. I remember being a wimpy little kid with no friends and living in a place where I knew I didn’t belong. First thing Kreese did when I started taking karate was beat that weakness out of me.” Johnny frowned. “I thought doing that I would be making all of you stronger. I told you to take the focus off your lip because I thought it would give you confidence if people could look at you without seeing your lip.”

“It did,” Hawk mumbled. “It did give me confidence.”

Johnny nodded. “But I didn’t mean for it to turn you into a bully. I hate saying it.” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “Because it means I’m agreeing with LaRusso on this. But after taking on Miguel. Taking on Aisha. I saw these weak kids who were bullied and picked on. Giving you karate and confidence, I just wanted you to be able to defend yourself the next time those bullies tried to hurt you.”

“Hawk,” Miguel said. “ _Eli_ , Kreese isn’t a good person. What he teaches isn’t good karate. All he wants is to make an army of little Kreeses that he can rule with an iron fist.”

“And the first second you fail him, he’ll try to choke you out.” Johnny grimaced, holding a hand to his throat. “I know that from experience. And I should have remembered that before letting him anywhere near you kids. That was my failure. And I’m sorry.” He watched Hawk, and relief swept through him when he saw some of the anger fading from his eyes.

“So, _Lord of the Rings_?” Hawk’s mouth twisted into something like a smile. “Maybe we could do a movie marathon.”

Johnny turned his head to stare at Miguel. “They made movies?” The teens laughed, and he felt a flush of embarrassment he would completely deny.


	13. Chapter 13

Amanda was right. It felt like they sat there for days waiting to hear from the doctors. Amanda had to keep fielding phone calls from the dealership. Johnny looked over to see the teens gathered around Demetri’s phone, apparently showing them some funny video. At least, they were able to laugh. Hawk and Demetri kept telling little inside jokes then having to explain them to Miguel and Sam. Anthony eventually wandered over to join them, complaining that the battery on his game died. Carmen showed up to sit with Amanda, the two women clasping hands tightly, before she had to excuse herself to get back to work. Johnny didn’t dare try to speak with her, and she didn’t look his way.

Eventually, after an eternity, the doctor finally came out to see them as the sun began to set. LaRusso was out of surgery and awake, and they were allowed to see him. Johnny remained in the waiting area while Amanda and her kids went to see him. He picked at his nail, his leg bouncing anxiously. He wished he had a beer or something. Hospitals were the worst places to be. He thought that before, and he thought it even more after the school fight. This just cemented the belief in his mind. He flicked his gaze upward when Hawk approached him.

Hawk stared at the floor between his feet. “I’m sorry. About what happened to Mr. LaRusso.”

Johnny sighed, sitting up straighter in his chair. “You’re not the one that needs to apologize. You had nothing to do with it.”

“But Tory and I were the ones that told Sen- that told Kreese about what you were doing.” Hawk bit his lip. “I told him about meeting up with you today. And then Mr. LaRusso got attacked. That can’t be coincidence.”

“Look at me,” Johnny said firmly, and Hawk lifted his head. “You’re not to blame. You’re just a kid. You’re not responsible for the actions of adults. Kreese used you and took advantage of you. You’re not at fault, and you shouldn’t feel guilty. Do you understand?”

Hawk nodded jerkily.

“Good. Now go talk nerd stuff with your friend.” Johnny waved him off. Hawk hesitated for a second then walked back over to where Miguel and Demetri sat.

It was ages later when Amanda sat down next to him. Johnny saw Sam and Anthony waiting off to the side.

“They’re probably going to say visiting hours will be ending soon.” Amanda smiled softly, taking his hand. “But you should go see him.”

Johnny’s gut twisted painfully, and he swallowed. “Is he - How bad is he?”

Amanda grimaced. “It’s not pretty.” Her hand tightened on his as his chest squeezed. “Go see him.” Then she took her hand back and walked over to her kids.

Johnny stood, his throat dry and his legs feeling like jelly. The urge to just run away screamed in his head. He took a shaky step down the hall, recalling the room they told him was LaRusso’s. He stopped outside the open door, and his heart dropped right out of him. ‘Not pretty’ felt like an understatement. Even with the sheet drawn up over him, it was easy to see the bulge around LaRusso’s left knee, clearly in a brace. Johnny wanted all the more to kick Kreese’s ass. His right arm was bandaged all the way up and in a sling. His face was a mess of black and blue, one eye nearly swollen shut. More bruises lined his throat. He had a bandage on his forehead, and his nose was broken. Johnny forced his feet to carry him forward and take up the uncomfortable plastic chair next to the bed. LaRusso’s good eye, bloodshot, opened and slid toward him. His mouth pulled into a small smile until he grimaced.

“Daniel,” Johnny said, his voice soft and thick with emotions. He reached out before pulling his hand back, fearing any touch might cause him more pain.

“Just a little hurt,” LaRusso croaked, his voice pained. He tried another smile.

Johnny’s mouth thinned. “How could you let Kreese do this?”

LaRusso closed his eye with a grimace. He swallowed, and it seemed to hurt. “I blocked his attacks at first. Then I told him I wasn’t going to fight with him. It was pointless to fight.” He paused, seeming to need a moment before he could try speaking again. “I turned my back on him. That’s when he kicked in my knee and got me in a stranglehold. I got out of it, but my knee was in agony, and I was dizzy from loss of air. I hit my head on something when I went down. I remember-” He grimaced.

Johnny scooted closer to the bed. He gently placed his hand to LaRusso’s face. “What? What do you remember?”

“Tory was there too. She was watching him. I tried to get back up, but Kreese kicked me onto the ground. He kept punching and kicking, and I couldn’t even hear what he was shouting. Tory just stood there. Scared. I don’t know what happened after that. Punch to head, hit hard on the floor, and I was out.”

“Fuck!” The hatred for Kreese burned hot in Johnny’s chest. “You should have fought back!”

LaRusso frowned. “Fighting him wasn’t doing us any good.”

“And you getting hurt like this does what good?” Johnny shouted. He felt the sting of tears at his eyes. “Damn it! The one time you choose not to be a stubborn fucking little shit.”

“It seemed like the best time.” LaRusso reached up with his good hand, covering Johnny’s and squeezing it. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, idiot.” Johnny leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the edge of the bed. “I’m not mad at you. Okay. Maybe a little mad at you. I know you can take on Kreese. If you put up a real fight.” He ground his teeth. “I’m going to kill him for this.”

“Ahem.”

Johnny lifted his head as a nurse walked into the room.

“Visiting hours are up. I’m afraid you’ll have to come back tomorrow.” She walked over to the bed to check on the monitors.

Johnny sighed as he stood. Before he could pull his hand away, LaRusso tightened his hold on Johnny’s hand.

“Don’t go after Kreese.”

“LaRusso,” Johnny growled.

“No,” LaRusso said firmly, glaring with his one good eye. “He pushes us. We push back.” He lifted his hand with a finger raised and twirled it in a circle. “Round and round.” His voice grew tired, and some of the fight faded from his eyes. “The kids.” His arm dropped back to his side.

“The kids?” Johnny prompted, ignoring the annoyed glances from the nurse.

“Won’t learn.” LaRusso’s eye slipped shut.

Johnny shot a panicked look to the nurse.

“He’s fine,” she assured him. “He just needs to rest.”

Johnny nodded jerkily. His heart still beat wildly in his chest. He stared down at LaRusso, brushing a thumb over his cheek. Bending down, he dropped a soft kiss to his temple then pulled away. At least, LaRusso didn’t look like he was in pain while he slept. Johnny breathed out shakily, taking one last look before he left the room. He hated everything about this situation. He wanted to stay at LaRusso’s side. He wanted to rush out and find Kreese and hurt him as badly as he hurt LaRusso. Worse, actually. But LaRusso was right. Retaliation was exactly what Kreese would want and expect. And the cycle of pain and suffering would continue.

When he reached the waiting area, Johnny found the three teens sitting together. Miguel was first to notice his arrival. He sat up straighter, his eyes suddenly alert.

“How is he?” Miguel had those puppy dog eyes filled to the brim with worry. Johnny was more than glad to see him back to that sensitive kid he first met. It made him feel like he hadn’t completely fucked up the kid after all.

“Pretty banged up.” Johnny frowned as he closed the distance between them. He caught the guilty dip of Hawk’s gaze. “No.” He pointed at Hawk. “This isn’t on you, kid. But we can all agree this shit needs to stop, right?” All three of the teens nodded. “Good. Let’s go. I don’t want your parents worrying about you.” He led the way to the elevator.

It was a quiet drive. None of the teens felt particularly up to talking. Johnny dropped off Demetri first then Hawk. When he reached their apartment complex, Johnny grabbed the crutches from the backseat and helped Miguel out of the car. Miguel paused on his way to his apartment and turned back to him.

“You know,” Miguel adjusted his hold on the crutches, “you could probably come over. Sometime. For dinner.”

“Don’t think I’m in your mom’s good graces yet.” Johnny frowned. “Maybe someday, but I think it’s best if I keep my distance still.”

Miguel nodded, frowning, disappointment in his eyes. “I hope Mr. L recovers soon.”

“He’s a tough little shit.” Johnny smirked. “He won’t stay down for long.” He watched Miguel make his way over to his apartment. Once Miguel disappeared inside, Johnny got back into his car. It was probably a stupid idea. He was pretty sure he still claimed the crown on that. He drove away from the apartment complex. It didn’t take him long to reach the house. He walked up to the front door and pressed the doorbell.

“Johnny!” Amanda blinked in surprise when she opened the door.

Johnny shoved his hands into his pockets. “I know you probably don’t want me here.” Of course, she wouldn’t. Why would she want the guy seeing her ex-husband hanging around her house? He was such an idiot. “LaRusso doesn’t want me going after Kreese. And my other response to this type of shit would be to drink myself into a coma.”

Amanda’s eyes softened, sympathetic, and she placed a hand on his arm. “You really do love him.” She smiled as she pulled him into the house. “But why come here?” The door closed behind them.

Johnny sent her a look, his eyebrow lifting. “We both know who was really in charge in your relationship. If you could reign him in, I figured you’d be able to stop me from being the stupidest asshole on the planet.”

Amanda gave him a hard, no nonsense glare as she folded her arms. Yeah, she definitely wore the pants in the relationship. “Don’t think for one second that I’m going to be playing therapist or relationship coach for you idiots.”

Johnny shook his head. “I just need tonight. After seeing him like that,” he clenched his fists inside of his pockets, “I’m barely stopping myself from running out that door to beat the crap out of Kreese. He wants to keep this war that’s in his head going. And that’s what’s going to happen if I give into my anger right now. I’m trying not to do that. I’m trying for LaRusso. I just don’t trust myself right now.”

Amanda stared for a long time, and Johnny shifted under the weight of her stare. If she kicked him out of the house, Johnny wouldn’t be surprised. He was still shocked she let him into the house.

“Have you eaten yet?”

Johnny blinked, the question throwing him off. “Um, no.”

“Good. We have some leftovers.” Amanda walked down the hall, leading the way through the house to the kitchen.

Johnny followed for lack of knowing what else to do. He spied Sam and Anthony sitting at the table. Sam had books around her, busily studying. Anthony poked miserably at the vegetables left on his plate. Johnny turned his attention back to Amanda as she pulled some Tupperware from the refrigerator.

Amanda spooned out some of the vegetables and chicken onto a plate. Johnny wrinkled his nose at the green stuff, but he didn’t voice his objection. They waited silently until the microwave dinged and Amanda pulled the plate out. After grabbing some silverware, she led the way out onto the patio. Johnny tossed a glance to the kids, catching Sam’s eye when he passed them. As miserable as she looked, she blinked in surprise to see him. Johnny gave a small nod before he stepped outside and joined Amanda at the table.

“Why are we out here?” Johnny picked up the fork and knife, cutting into the chicken.

“I think Sam’s been traumatized enough today without hearing more details about what happened to Daniel.” Amanda sat back in her chair, looking like she wanted something strong to drink as much as Johnny did. “So, Kreese.”

“He didn’t tell you anything?” Johnny stuffed a chunk of the chicken into his mouth. He was actually considering eating the green crap; he realized he was that hungry.

“I think he didn’t want the kids worrying any more than they already were.” Amanda’s mouth pressed thin, and he could see in her eyes she knew they would have to explain everything to their kids eventually.

Johnny nodded. “I think they can handle it.” He took another bite, even scooping up some of the green vegetables. “Kreese found out we were talking to his students. We wanted to try to get the kids to resolve their issues by talking things out. We already had Sam, Aisha, and Tory meet. We were there just to make sure things didn’t end up in a fight,” he added hurriedly when he saw panic rising in Amanda’s eyes. “We want to do this peacefully. Kreese didn’t like that. He wants the war. He knew we were meeting Hawk today with Demetri.” His hand tightened around the fork and knife. “He took that opportunity to see LaRusso when he would be alone.”

“Damn it,” Amanda muttered, fury flashing in her eyes.

“He took the blows to prove our point. Tory was there too.”

Amanda’s eyes widened, and she stood. Johnny caught her arm before she could walk off.

“Where are you going?”

“He can’t get away with putting Daniel in the hospital,” Amanda hissed with a rage that surprised Johnny. “And you just said there was a witness. I’m calling my lawyer.”

“Amanda-”

“No!” She stood firmly. “I love him too. He’s still my best friend. And it killed me to walk into that hospital room and see him like that.” The tears gathered in her eyes. “Daniel, that idiot.” She swiped at her eyes. “He didn’t fight back, and Kreese could have killed him. I’m going to make sure he goes to jail for this.”

Johnny pulled her into a hug, like he did at the hospital, and she sobbed into his shoulder. “Okay.”


	14. Chapter 14

Amanda met with her lawyers the next day. Johnny left all that legal stuff to her. She was smart and knew a hell of a lot more about that kind of stuff than he did. Some of his rage over the whole situation had faded overnight. He was still pissed about what Kreese did to LaRusso, but he didn’t feel that urge to run out the door and hunt him down for it.

“You kids want to go check on LaRusso?” Johnny asked after breakfast was eaten. Amanda had already left by that time, and it was a little strange loitering around her house with only the kids there. Sam and Anthony agreed readily.

“How come you never call him by his name?” Anthony asked, grumpily buckling up in the backseat of the car. Sam had beat him in claiming the front seat.

Johnny shrugged as he pulled away from the house. “Old habit.” Then he added in a mumble, “I’ve used his name sometimes.” It wasn’t very often and usually during some kind intimate moment. But that didn’t seem like the kind of thing he should mention to LaRusso’s kids. Did Anthony even know about their relationship? Johnny wasn’t about to spill the beans on that if LaRusso hadn’t already said something.

“It’s just weird.”

“Don’t be rude, Anthony.” Sam turned around in her seat to glare at him. “He doesn’t have to be taking us to see dad.” She scowled when Anthony stuck out his tongue at her.

Johnny groaned, regretting this decision, but he knew LaRusso would be happy to see his kids. He reached over and flipped on the radio, finding a decent song to hopefully drown out any more sibling arguments during the drive over to the hospital.

By the time he parked at the hospital, he was seriously considering finding some alcohol. LaRusso wasn’t the only one in the family that never learned to keep their mouth shut. Johnny was pinching at his nose, a headache beating against his skull, as they stepped off the elevator. Sam took the lead down the hallway with Anthony waddling along behind her. Johnny paused in following them when he spotted Carmen. She caught his eye, looked away, then walked over to him. Johnny shifted his weight uneasily, not wanting to make a scene.

Carmen stood in front of him, but her expression was surprisingly soft.

“I should have been there for Miguel,” Johnny said when she opened her mouth. “I should have done more to stop all that shit from happening. I made a promise to you, and I failed to keep it. I’m sorry. I understand if you don’t want to see me ever again.” It hurt still. Since Miguel became his student, Johnny thought of Carmen as a close friend. He didn’t have many close friends, and he didn’t keep in contact with his fellow Cobras as much as he probably should have.

Carmen’s mouth pulled in a tiny smile as she placed a hand on his arm. “And I was going to say sorry about what happened to Daniel.” She frowned, sadness filling her eyes. “I can’t believe something like that happened.” She rubbed her hand up and down his arm. “How are you dealing with this?”

“I want to hurt Kreese back for this. Or drink myself stupid.” Johnny frowned. It still felt surreal having Carmen talk to him. He thought for sure they would never be able to talk civilly to one another again after the school fight. “I’m trying not to act on either of those though.”

Carmen’s smile returned, soft and understanding. “That’s good.” She nodded. “That’s really good, Johnny.” Then she sighed, dropping her hand away from his arm, and Johnny missed the touch. It felt comforting and made it easier not to think about his usual coping mechanisms. “I want you to know that I’m okay. I’m still not happy with everything that happened. I was so scared for Miguel. He’s my son. My little boy. My baby. I feared I might lose him. Or that he would never walk again.”

Johnny shook his head. “You have every right to be pissed off at me. I didn’t keep him safe.”

Carmen offered a flicker of a smile. “And I can see now how hard all that hit you too. Miguel really loves you. He’s never had a good father figure in his life, and I’ve never seen him so passionate about anything until you brought karate into his life. I don’t like the violence, and I don’t like what happened at school. But I get that this is something he wants. I’m okay with letting him continue training. Under _you_.” She poked a finger into his chest with a deadly serious glare. “Once he’s recovered enough to actually continue. But if you don’t keep him safe this time, Johnny, I swear I will rain hell down upon you.”

“And I will let you.” Johnny’s shoulders sagged, tension melting out of his body. Maybe he hadn’t completely fucked up all chances of keeping his friendship with Carmen. But he wasn’t about to press his luck. One misstep, and Carmen would be back to hating his guts.

Carmen nodded. Then her gaze flicked down the hallway. “You came to visit Daniel? And you brought his kids? Or is Amanda here too?”

Johnny’s eyes widened. “Oh shit!” He dug out his phone. “I should probably tell her I brought them here. I don’t want her to get home from the lawyers and freak out when her kids aren’t there.” He found her contact in the phone, after exchanging their information last night, and sent her a quick text to let her know they were at the hospital. Almost a second later, Amanda messaged him back with a thanks for letting her know, and a thanks for taking them. When Johnny lifted his gaze, Carmen stared at him with an eyebrow raised in question. “What?”

“I didn’t realize you were so close with all of the LaRusso family.”

“Oh, uh, well, a lot has happened recently.” Johnny swallowed as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. “LaRusso and I are, uh, kind of dating now.”

Carmen’s eyes widened as her mouth dropped open.

“It just,” Johnny hunched up his shoulders, “happened.”

Carmen’s mouth closed then stretched slowly into a smile. “I’m happy for you.”

Johnny blinked. “Yeah?”

Carmen nodded. “Yeah.” Then she laughed. “Maybe that explains all that tension between the two of you. Obviously the two of you can get along well. Really well. When outside factors aren’t throwing wrenches into your relationship.” She frowned, folding her arms. “Like that Kreese guy.”

“Yeah.” Johnny’s mouth thinned. Maybe a lot of the shit between him and LaRusso wouldn’t have happened if Kreese hadn’t drilled his Cobra Kai mantra into Johnny’s head. Maybe he wouldn’t have looked at LaRusso as an enemy that needed to be beaten just for taking an interest in Ali. He could play that game of thinking up ‘what if’ scenarios all he wanted to, but it wouldn’t change the reality of what happened. “We figured it out eventually though.”

“Indeed.” Carmen grinned, maybe a little closer to a smirk. “Okay. I have to get back to work now.”

“I’m glad we could talk.”

“Me too.” Carmen stood for a second then wrapped her arms around him in a brief hug. “See you around, Johnny.” She waved to him as she walked away.

Johnny lifted his hand to wave back. Then he turned to head down the hallway to the room where LaRusso was. He peeked into the room. Sam and Anthony stood on either side of the bed. Sam held onto her father’s good hand while Anthony shifted his weight now and then, looking like he was almost too scared to touch his father for fear of breaking him. Johnny turned a step to leave, not wanting to interrupt the family moment.

“Johnny,” LaRusso’s voice called to him.

Johnny turned back, and LaRusso smiled. Johnny’s heart stuttered. How did LaRusso manage a smile that lit up the room when he was so beaten and broken? Johnny walked into the room. He still hated to see LaRusso like this. Some of the swelling around his eye had gone down, allowing him to open it a little.

“How are you feeling?” Johnny stood at the foot of the bed, his eyes lingering on the ugly bruising on LaRusso’s neck. He remembered having similar bruising on his own neck, over thirty years ago. He still panicked if anyone got him in a headlock.

“Sore. But, you know, the drugs help with the pain.”

“You didn’t tell us when you were going to get out of here,” Anthony said, the worry for his father actually showing on his face.

“Doctors didn’t tell me that yet,” LaRusso said, turning his head only a little to look at his son. “But I don’t think it’ll be for too much longer.”

“Are you going to come back to the house?” Anthony frowned as he gripped the guardrail on the bed.

“Ah,” LaRusso grimaced, “I don’t know that your mom would like that.”

“But you can’t go home alone!” Anthony protested. “Who’s going to look after you? What if you get attacked again?”

Johnny blinked. Who knew the little brat actually cared so much about his father?

“He won’t be there alone,” Sam argued. “I can go and stay there with him.”

“It’s going to be okay.” LaRusso sighed, sounding tired already. “I can manage on my own.”

“Like hell you are,” Johnny said, and all three of them turned to him. “You wouldn’t even be in this mess if I hadn’t let Kreese back into the picture. I can take responsibility and make sure he’s taken care of.” It was the truth but also sounded like a decent enough excuse without having to tell Anthony about their relationship.

Anthony squinted at him. “Since when are you so close to dad anyway? And why did you spend the night last night?”

“You what?” LaRusso’s one good eye widened.

“We’re going to go see if the vending machine has any good snacks,” Sam announced, walking around to the other side of the bed.

“What?” Anthony tried to break free when his sister grabbed his arm. “I want answers! Ow! Hey! Stop it!” He struggled but seemed to be no match for his sister. He could be heard complaining as the pair headed down the hallway.

Johnny swallowed under LaRusso’s still wide-eyed stare. Then he shuffled over to the side of the bed where Sam had stood. LaRusso’s gaze followed him. “I went there because I knew I was going to be stupid if I was left by myself. I figured Amanda would be able to knock me in the head if I even tried to grab a bottle and drink.”

Daniel blinked then let a slow, lazy smile spread onto his face. “Johnny.”

“Yeah, I care that much about you. I’m trying not to fuck up.” Johnny huffed a sigh. “Anyway, she’s talking to her lawyers right now.”

“Lawyers?” LaRusso’s eyes shone with alarm. “What? Why? Johnny, what did you do?”

“What are you getting so upset about?” Johnny ground his teeth. Was LaRusso really trying to pick a fight with him?

“You stayed over, and now my ex-wife is talking to her lawyers. I’m trying to understand what the hell is going on?” The anger petered out of him, and LaRusso leaned back into his pillows with a grimace. “Sorry. I’m not - ugh!” He reached up to touch a hand to his head. “I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Could you explain what’s going on?” He dropped his arm to lay over his waist with the arm still in a sling. He turned his gaze onto Johnny, instant regret in those brown eyes. “I know you’re trying. I’m sorry. I just don’t understand why Amanda would need to talk to her lawyers.”

Johnny sighed, relaxing his tense shoulders. “Maybe let people explain things first before jumping to conclusions, LaRusso.” He was being serious, but a smile tugged at his mouth. “She’s meeting with her lawyers to talk about this whole thing with Kreese.”

“But we’re dealing with Kreese! We’re talking to the kids.” LaRusso waved his hand around to gesture wildly as he talked. “Maybe that’s not going well so far, but we’re trying. We’ve really only talked to Tory anyway. We can still try-”

Johnny caught the hand and squeezed it gently. “Daniel,” he said firmly, and LaRusso stared at him with big, round Bambi eyes. “He fucking assaulted you at your home. You didn’t even attack back! Amanda plans to do everything she can to make sure he pays for what he did. If we’re lucky, maybe he’ll get put away for a long time and we can break his influence on the kids.”

“I-” LaRusso frowned as he held Johnny’s gaze. “Yeah, I guess you have a point.”

“Good. Because even if you tried arguing against this, we wouldn’t listen to you.” Johnny smirked as LaRusso rolled his eyes. “So, have you told your son about us yet? Because I’ve been trying not to let anything slip in front of him.”

LaRusso heaved a sigh. “Not yet. But I should. This, uh, didn’t seem like the right time though.”

Johnny nodded. “Yeah. I get that. Just wanted to be sure.” Then he grimaced. “We’re going to have to tell Robby about what happened. He’s not going to be happy about it.”

LaRusso’s mouth curved downward. “Maybe that would be better left unsaid until he’s out of juvie. I don’t like the idea of lying to him, but if the news is going to upset him, I don’t want to risk him taking his anger out on other people in there. It could result in him being held there longer.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. So, we’ll wait until he gets out then tell him.” Johnny adjusted his hold so he could lace their fingers together. “He won’t like hearing that you got hurt, but I hope he won’t take out his anger on anyone.” When he heard the kids coming closer to the room, Johnny quickly brushed a kiss to LaRusso’s knuckles then let go of his hand and took a step back from the bed.

“Thanks for bringing Sam and Anthony with you, Johnny.” LaRusso smiled up to him as the kids walked back into the room. Anthony had a couple bags of chips in his arms.

Johnny bobbed his head with a soft smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Happy New Years!
> 
> I really wish I knew how to get into our Netflix account so I could (sneakily) watch season 3 on my computer. I'm not going to survive if my sister makes me wait.


	15. Chapter 15

Once Amanda got the ball rolling, everything seemed to speed by in a blur. Johnny wanted to spend as much time as he could at the hospital, but he still had work. Mike hired him back on for the odd handyman job, reluctantly. Johnny wouldn’t have gone crawling back to him if he didn’t need the money so he could keep his apartment. He tried to stop by the hospital whenever he was off work.

During one visit, he found Amanda already there. Her lawyers were talking to LaRusso, asking him questions about the attack. Johnny stood silently inside the doorway, listening, though he could tell LaRusso didn’t like having to retell the story, especially in the detail the lawyers were demanding from him.

Kreese had showed up at the house, with Tory in tow. LaRusso allowed them into the house, on the promise that it would be a peaceful discussion. Johnny could guess what Kreese wanted to say before LaRusso said anything. Kreese wanted them to stay away from his students. Obviously, he was afraid they might actually succeed in influencing his students to leave him. LaRusso said they weren’t doing anything wrong, and it was up to the kids to make the choices for themselves. They were only there as moderators to the kids’ discussions. Kreese ordered him to stay away, and if LaRusso didn’t, Kreese threatened the school fight would pale in comparison to what he would do.

“I didn’t like the threat,” LaRusso said with a hard look in his eyes. “But I was trying not to rise to his threats. So, I tried talking to Tory instead. I wanted her to know that everyone involved in the fight was sorry and wanted to make things right, if at all possible. That’s when Kreese first attacked me. I deflected the punch, but he kept coming at me. Eventually, I had enough of it and told him I wouldn’t fight him.”

The lawyers wanted to know about every punch and kick of the fight. Johnny watched as LaRusso grimaced and looked away from them, every word becoming more strained. He pushed away from the wall and walked over to take up a plastic chair next to the bed. After dragging it up close, he took hold of LaRusso’s hand, their fingers lacing together. He squeezed his hand reassuringly, and it seemed to make it easier for LaRusso to keep talking.

After they were finished questioning about the attack, the lawyers wanted to know more about Kreese’s past violence. They asked Johnny all about his time training under Kreese. Johnny sat stonily in the chair, his mind immediately drifting right back to that parking lot after the tournament. Then he felt the gentle squeeze of his hand. He flicked his gaze to LaRusso, who gave him an encouraging smile. Damn it. If LaRusso could relive his own traumas for the sake of sending Kreese’s ass to jail, then Johnny could too. He took a deep breath then told them everything about his experiences with Kreese. All the abuses he could remember, all the extra training Kreese held him back for in order to “make him stronger.” He told them about Bobby being forced to disqualify himself in the tournament to take LaRusso out and about his own actions against LaRusso under Kreese’s orders. He swallowed thickly, and it took him a moment before he could get out the part in the parking lot with Kreese’s arm around his throat, almost killing him until Mr. Miyagi stepped in to save him.

“I can confirm that’s what happened,” LaRusso said. “I was there in the parking lot to see it.”

“You can also ask Bobby and Jimmy,” Johnny said.

The lawyers wrote down their notes. Then one lifted her head, adjusting her glasses. “We’d like to know about what transpired during the ‘85 tournament. That’s how Cobra Kai first got banned from participating in the All Valley tournament, correct?”

LaRusso visibly gulped as he nodded. “That’s correct.”

She waited with an expectant lift of her eyebrows. “Tell us about your experience there.”

LaRusso let out a bitter, scoffing laugh. “It wasn’t just the tournament. And it wasn’t just Kreese.” His mouth was a thin angry line, and his grip on Johnny’s hand was almost painful.

Already knowing the story and how it affected LaRusso, Johnny clasped LaRusso’s hand in both of his, trying to instill the courage he needed into him. LaRusso struggled through the story, going into even more detail than he had before. Johnny moved his hands, leaning in closer to examine the knuckles to find fine spider webbing scars over the tanned skin. The anger burned through Johnny again. Kreese wanted to make LaRusso bleed and succeeded in leaving scars in more ways than one. When he flicked his eyes up, he saw Amanda sitting on the other side of the bed. Horror was written in her eyes, and Johnny realized LaRusso probably never told her anything about this. LaRusso had kept all of this bottled up inside of him for over thirty years. Fuck! How did he do that and manage to act so composed all the damn time?

After a few more questions, the lawyers finally thanked them and said their goodbyes before leaving the room.

“Daniel,” Amanda said, her voice soft and caring as she moved closer to the bed. He kept his eyes lowered. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about this?”

“I only learned about some of the details recently,” Johnny confessed, watching LaRusso carefully.

LaRusso worked his jaw, blinking his eyes as if to clear them. “Mostly I wanted to forget any of it happened. But I guess I also didn’t want you looking at me like I was broken.”

“Daniel,” Amanda touched his shoulder, “I would never have looked at you like that.” Then she turned her gaze onto Johnny. “No wonder you two have so many issues. You suffered so much abuse because of this Kreese guy.” LaRusso breathed out a light laugh, and Johnny let a little smile sneak onto his face.

After that, Johnny would find some of the kids coming to visit. Sam and Anthony came by after school. He came across Miguel, Hawk, and Demetri and felt his chest swell. It looked like the boys had patched things up now. He bumped into Aisha another time, hovering outside the door like she was too scared to enter. Placing an arm around her shoulders, Johnny guided her into the room. LaRusso smiled happily when he saw her.

“I can’t wait to go home,” LaRusso said, groaning as he poked the Jell-o on the tray. “I miss real food.”

“Stop being a food snob and just finish your dinner,” Johnny said, growing only mildly annoyed at the complaint. LaRusso muttered but stabbed the plastic fork into a cube of Jell-o. Johnny didn’t even try to hide his smirk. At the footsteps, he lifted his head, turning to the door. He tensed when Tory came into view. Her gaze met his and lingered for a minute before she looked to LaRusso. They stayed like that, silently, for several long minutes.

“Hi, Tory!” LaRusso put on his thousand watt smile, lowering his fork back to the tray.

“Ah, ah, ah!” Johnny pointed at him. “You finish that damn Jell-o.”

LaRusso grumbled before stuffing the cube of wiggly green Jell-o into his mouth. He glowered at Johnny.

“Um,” Tory mumbled as she stepped cautiously into the room. “I just-” She stiffened when both men turned their gazes back to her. For a moment, Johnny thought she was going to bolt from the room. Then she squared her shoulders with determination in her eyes. “I didn’t know he was going to do that. I thought - He said he just wanted to talk. He said he was just going to tell you to back off. Because - Because you just wanted us to be the bad guys.”

Johnny closed his hand into a tight fist.

“We never thought of you as the bad guys,” LaRusso said before Johnny’s anger could build too much. “Kreese, yes. But not you kids. You’ve all made mistakes. We have too. None of us are innocent in this whole mess. And, Tory, I know a lot about hanging onto anger. It twists you up inside. If you can find a way to let go of that anger, you might be happier in the long run.”

“You’d be angry too if you had to scrape for every penny,” Tory snapped back defensively.

LaRusso’s eyebrows jumped toward his hairline, and a laugh bubbled out of him. “Did she really just say that to us?”

“Maybe not the best time to be laughing,” Johnny pointed out as Tory’s glare darkened at them.

LaRusso turned his frown on Johnny before looking back to Tory. “Have you seen how this man lives?” He pointed a thumb at Johnny. “His apartment is a dump and lives off beer and fried bologna smeared in ketchup!”

“Hey!” Johnny glowered.

“Sorry.” LaRusso grimaced.

Tory folded her arms. “Fine. But you,” her eyes narrowed at LaRusso, “would never understand. You live in some stupid fancy mansion and party at the country club.”

“Yeah, _now_ I do.” LaRusso paused to think on that a moment. “Or, rather, I did. I don’t live in that house anymore, and I haven’t really bothered going to the country club lately.” He waved it off. “That’s not important though. I didn’t start with any of that shit. When I got here, I lived in a crappy apartment with my ma who had to work like crazy to save up enough money for everything. I didn’t have a lot of nice things. And then when it came to college, I had to work myself to death at a part time job to pay tuition all the while juggling between classes and work and barely having enough time to grab a few hours of sleep each night. Then it was working full time at a dealership all while trying to save up and plan for when I could open my own dealership. So yeah, my life looks nice and cushy now, and yeah, maybe I’ve spoiled my children too much, but I remember exactly what it’s like to come from nothing and have to fight to make something of myself.”

“It’s easy to be angry at the world,” Johnny said, bumping LaRusso’s arm to remind to finish up the last cubes of the Jell-o. “But it really doesn’t do anything to help you. I’ve been angry and bitter for the last thirty years, and look at where it’s gotten me. I’ve worked a bunch of crappy jobs that made me feel like shit. My apartment is garbage. My son hated me so much he wanted to learn karate from LaRusso rather than me. And the one good thing I had going for me gotten taken away from me by the guy who nearly choked me to death. And it would be so easy to continue to be angry and bitter and blame the world for being completely unfair. But I would just continue to be stuck in the same shitty situation I was in before. And that’s exactly why we wanted to get you kids talking about all the shit and drama and hopefully get you all to forgive each other. We,” he gestured to himself and LaRusso, “have already gone through this stupid rivalry bullshit song and dance. Is this really how you want your life to end up?”

Tory glanced between them. “No,” she lowered her gaze, “I guess I don’t.”

LaRusso finished off the last of the Jell-o cubes then tossed down the plastic fork onto the tray. “Great.” He smiled, though Johnny suspected it was somewhat in part due to having finished his dinner. “I know my daughter made some mistakes with you, but she really is very sorry about all of it.”

“I’m still not ready to forgive her.”

LaRusso nodded. “You’re not going to take out your anger on her though, right?”

Tory stared at him, her gaze slowly traveling down his body then back up to meet his eyes. Then she shook her head. “No, I don’t want to be like Kreese anymore.” She dropped her gaze, and her hands tightened into fists at her side. “I should have done something to stop him. I just stood there while he hurt you.”

“No, you were right not to step in.” LaRusso’s eyes were hard with fierce protectiveness. “If you tried to stop him, he would have hurt you too. And I do not want any more of you kids getting hurt because we’re stupid adults.”

Tory gaped, her eyes wide in surprise. Then she schooled her expression. Folding her arms, she lifted an eyebrow as she glanced between them. “So, like, are you two a thing now?”

LaRusso sputtered, his face growing dark with his blush. Johnny barked out a laugh. He guessed they weren’t that great at hiding their relationship. But, then, they weren’t actually trying to hide it in the first place.


	16. Chapter 16

The court date was set, and LaRusso finally got released from the hospital. The bruising was long gone, and his arm was no longer in a sling or bandaged. He still had some scars up the arm from where it was pierced by broken shards from a pot or plate or something that got knocked to the floor while he was defending himself from Kreese. His nose now had a slight bend in it, barely noticeable. Johnny could almost ignore it, if he didn’t squint hard enough while staring at it. Before they could leave the hospital, the doctor wanted to check out his knee one last time. It healed up rather nicely, but the doctor thought he could probably use a week or two on crutches before the brace could come off.

“Kreese just had to go for my knee,” LaRusso grumbled once they were in the car.

“You know what Cobra Kai is like.” Johnny clenched his jaw as he pulled out of the parking space. “Go for the weakness.”

“If a man can’t stand, he can’t fight,” LaRusso spat out bitterly, glaring at the passing scenery.

Johnny huffed a laugh, the corner of his mouth curling upward. “That didn’t stop you from fighting.”

LaRusso flicked his gaze at him then relaxed somewhat. A frown settled on his face as he dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap. “It didn’t work out so well for me this time.”

“Only because you stupidly didn’t fight back. And,” Johnny took a hand off the wheel and held it up to him before LaRusso could speak, “I know why. It just pisses me off still that Kreese hurt you.”

“Better me than the kids.” LaRusso’s voice was strong with his conviction. “So, when’s the court date?”

“Next Monday.” Johnny glanced over at him. “Are you ready for it?”

“Ready to see that asshole go to jail? Oh, hell yeah.” LaRusso bobbed his head with determination in his eyes. Then a slight, fond, smile pulled at his mouth. “I really never deserved Amanda. I can’t believe she got all of this together this quickly.”

“She still cares a lot about you. Kreese hurt you. She wasn’t going to sit quietly about that.”

“See? She was definitely too good for me.”

Johnny shook his head. “She wouldn’t love you if you weren’t good enough for her. You’re her best friend, and you’ve always supported her.”

LaRusso stayed silent for several minutes, tempting Johnny to flip on the radio just to fill the quiet car. “She told you that?”

Johnny chuckled at the stunned tone. “Was it supposed to be a secret?”

“No.” LaRusso shook his head. “I guess I just haven’t really felt like a good friend to her for a while now. With all the karate drama going on. I haven’t really been there for her the way I should be.”

“It happens.” Johnny shrugged. “That doesn’t mean she stopped thinking of you as her best friend. But now that you’ve got your head out of your ass, you can start being there for her again.”

“Hey!” LaRusso protested.

Johnny turned his head and lifted an eyebrow with a pointed look.

LaRusso huffed. “Okay. Fine. But it’s not like you were any better about what was going on.”

“I wasn’t denying it.” Johnny turned back to the road. “And hopefully, after this trial, there won’t be any more karate drama because Kreese will be out of the equation.”

“Yeah.” LaRusso sighed, slumping a little in his seat.

Johnny kept glancing over every once and a while as he drove. LaRusso’s eyes were slipping shut then fluttering open before closing again. His stubble was a bit thicker now. Johnny frowned as the concern surged through him. “Have you been having nightmares still?”

“It was easier at the beginning,” LaRusso mumbled with his eyes closed. “They had me on painkillers, so I slept without really dreaming. After they weaned me off them, I woke up a few times from nightmares.”

Johnny reached his hand over to take hold of LaRusso’s and squeezed it comfortingly. They were silent until they reached the house. Johnny parked next to LaRusso’s car. He started to climb out of the car but paused when he caught sight of LaRusso. He eased back into his seat as his mouth curved downward.

“What’s wrong?” Johnny’s brow creased as he noted the tension in LaRusso’s body.

“This is Mr. Miyagi’s home. My home. It’s always been my safe place.” LaRusso tore his gaze from the house and turned his pained eyes onto Johnny. “But they keep coming in and stomping all over it. They take a place that’s so important to me and tear down the peace it always brought me.”

Johnny reached across and pulled LaRusso to him. He wished they weren’t sitting in a car, because it would be easier, but he held LaRusso as closely as the car allowed. LaRusso clutched a hand around Johnny’s shirt as he pressed his face into the crook of Johnny’s neck. He didn’t cry, despite the way his body trembled. Johnny guessed LaRusso was refusing to shed tears because of Kreese. Even if Kreese wasn’t here to see it, LaRusso wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of making him cry. Johnny ran his hand up and down LaRusso’s back while his other arm wrapped under one arm and around to clasp LaRusso’s other shoulder, holding him close.

“We can stay at my place,” Johnny offered in a soft whisper. “If you need more time.”

LaRusso shook his head. “No,” he said, finally, with a hint of a quiver in his voice, “he’s not driving me away from this place. I’m not going to let him make me afraid.”

Johnny nodded, not expecting any other response from him. LaRusso was too much the stubborn little shit he always was to let fear control him. They stayed in the car for a while longer, holding onto each other, until LaRusso pulled away. He stared up at the house for a minute then pushed open the car door. Johnny climbed out, hurrying around the car to hand the crutches over to him, and together they walked up to the front door. LaRusso hesitated for a second before he opened the door.

“The kids came by to clean up the mess,” Johnny said as they entered the house. “Well, after Amanda’s lawyers came to take pictures as part of their evidence. Up until then, I don’t think any of us were really ready to come back here.” He rolled his shoulder. “It’s weird when you’re not here. Plus, seeing how it looked and imagining your still body on the floor is not an image I want stuck in my head.” He grimaced, knowing that image would forever haunt Sam. “But since you were getting released, they wanted to clean it up so you wouldn’t have to see it and remember it.”

LaRusso smiled, though it was a bit more like a grimace. “I still remember it.” He walked farther into the house on his crutches. “But I appreciate them doing that.” He glanced over his shoulder with a slight furrow in his brow. “You said kids? Anthony came too?”

Johnny laughed with a bob of his head. “I was shocked too.” Maybe there is some hope for that kid after all.

A real smile spread onto LaRusso’s face, his eyes shimmering. He worked his way over to the couch then eased himself down onto it. “Ah,” he sighed, leaning back, “it feels good to be home.”

Johnny took his crutches and leaned them against the armrest. Then he grabbed a throw pillow off the couch to set on the table before lifting up LaRusso’s leg to rest his foot on it. “The doctor said you shouldn’t be on your feet too much, so you’re staying out of the kitchen.” He pointed a finger at LaRusso like he was scolding a misbehaving child. “You’re going to have to just deal with whatever the hell I get you. Unless you want me to try cooking something, which probably isn’t the best idea.”

LaRusso reached out for his hand. “We can talk about cooking later.” He tugged on Johnny’s hand until he bent down closer. Then he kissed Johnny, sliding his other hand up to snake around the back of Johnny’s neck. It was short and sweet, but Johnny sighed happily when LaRusso pulled away. “For tonight, I just want to curl up on the couch with some takeout and watch stupid movies with you.”

“I think that can be arranged.” Johnny grinned, stealing another quick kiss before he moved to sit next to LaRusso so they could look up places that would deliver on LaRusso’s phone and figure out what they wanted for dinner.

They ordered pizza and finished nearly the whole thing with LaRusso occasionally stealing toppings off Johnny’s slices. Johnny complained, with no real heat behind it. After all that hospital food, LaRusso deserved to eat something that didn’t taste like cardboard. They only made it through two and a half movies before LaRusso dozed off and Johnny decided it was time to get him to bed.

Monday rolled around, both seeming to come too quickly and at a snail’s pace. Johnny had to leave LaRusso at home when he had to work, and he hated to do it when LaRusso still had to rest his knee. LaRusso was frustrated with the stay at home order. Amanda threatened to call his mother about everything that happened if he so much as stepped foot into any of their dealerships. LaRusso paled at that and immediately stopped whining about having to sit at home. But that didn’t mean he was without any work. Amanda gave him plenty of work that could be done at home on his laptop. LaRusso also continued looking through possible venues for opening their dojo. He had two in mind that he thought could work well, but they still needed to actually visit the locations and check them out in person.

Sam made frequent visits after school to check up on her father. She even brought Miguel, and sometimes Anthony, who actually managed to get LaRusso to take a break from staring at his laptop to stare at one of his game screens instead. Johnny chuckled when he saw that. For all his complaining, LaRusso actually looked like he was enjoying whatever game they were playing.

LaRusso wanted to cook, but having to use crutches made that a little difficult. Johnny wanted him to stay seated and rest, but all the sitting seemed to make LaRusso antsy. He compromised by letting LaRusso hang around in the kitchen and direct him while he prepared the food. Johnny thought it would be a test of his patience, being bossed around by LaRusso. Something would set one of them off, and they would start bickering until they were at each other’s throats in anger. But LaRusso was patient with him, giving him praise when he did things well. Apparently, Johnny had good knife skills. He wasn’t sure why that mattered, but he still puffed up his chest in pride. It turned out better than he thought, not nearly as difficult, and when LaRusso moaned happily at the first bite, Johnny felt another surge of pride.

“I’m definitely making you cook more often now,” LaRusso announced before stuffing another forkful into his mouth.

Johnny rolled his eyes, but he was happy knowing LaRusso enjoyed his cooking. “It only tastes good because you were telling me what to do.”

“And before you know it,” LaRusso grinned, “you’ll be cooking without my guidance.”

Cooking together like that became their nightly routine.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You ready for this?” LaRusso asked, making sure Johnny’s tie was straight. They arrived early to the court house, bumping into Amanda and her lawyers on their way inside. Now they were waiting outside for someone to come out and tell them they could go into the courtroom.

“Yeah,” Johnny mumbled distractedly. Something over LaRusso’s shoulder caught his attention. Or rather, someone. Kreese glared daggers in their directions, but his lawyers seemed to be keeping him from coming over to them. Johnny almost wanted Kreese to come over, make a scene, threaten them. It would only prove what a sick loser he really was. LaRusso frowned at him when Johnny turned his gaze back to him. “What?”

LaRusso shook his head. After a glance over Johnny’s shoulder, LaRusso smiled. “I think I know of a good distraction from Kreese though.”

Johnny’s brow furrowed, and he almost squinted at LaRusso, trying to figure out the meaning of that statement before asking. “What?”

With a quick roll of his eyes, LaRusso nodded his head toward whatever he saw behind Johnny. “Just turn around.”

Johnny sighed dramatically but turned around as ordered. A grumble was working its way up his throat, but it stuck there. His eyes widened at the two men heading down the hall toward them. He jogged down the hall, and three of them collided in a hug. He squeezed his friends tightly before stepping back with a giant smile stretched across his face.

“What are you doing here?”

“We got contacted by some lawyers,” Bobby said, clapping a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “Did you think we wouldn’t come for this?”

“We didn’t say anything when you told us about Kreese being back,” Jimmy said with a frown settling on his face. “But we didn’t really like the idea of him hanging around you. Watching him nearly choke you to death kind of leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, you know?”

“But you acted like Kreese had changed.”

“You can say it,” Johnny said. “I was a fucking idiot.”

“Well, since you said it.” Jimmy laughed. Johnny and Bobby joined in.

“When they told us what Kreese did to Daniel, I couldn’t believe it.” Bobby’s eyes were wide.

Johnny grimaced. “It wasn’t a pretty sight.” Then his mouth thinned. “It was his daughter that found him afterward.”

“Damn,” Jimmy whispered with his eyes blown wide open. “That has to be pretty traumatizing.”

Johnny nodded. “But I think she’s been handling it pretty well. At least, when she comes by, she seems like she’s back to normal. But, I mean, that’s not a sight she’s ever going to forget.” His friends nodded agreement.

“You said,” Bobby narrowed his eyes slightly, “when she comes by?”

Not long ago, Johnny might have panicked and denied it. Instead, he let an easy smile slip onto his face. He only wished his other Cobra friends were there too. “Yeah, I’ve been staying at his place while he recovers. Because LaRusso and I are dating.” He laughed at the utter shock playing across their faces.

“Holy-” Jimmy started to shout until Bobby smacked him on the arm with the back of his hand. He finished lamely, “-shit!” His eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets.

“Congrats.” Bobby smiled despite his surprise. “You’re going to have to tell us all about how this came about though.”

Johnny laughed. “Yeah, we can go out to dinner. After, you know,” he waved a hand toward the door to the courtroom, “this is all finished.”

Bobby and Jimmy readily agreed. Then they were being called into the courtroom. Johnny hated the whole process. There was too much tension in the air; it was almost suffocating. Kreese’s glare bore into him throughout the proceedings, and Johnny was thankful to have LaRusso sitting next to him and his friends on his other side.

Johnny was almost certain Kreese’s lawyer was some form of the devil with how he kept trying to twist everyone’s statements around to sound like Kreese was the innocent victim here. His jaw hurt from grinding his teeth so much, and he thought he would have permanent crescent indents on his palms from clenching his fists. When he was on the stand, his anger almost got the better of him from the lawyer’s questions. He looked to LaRusso, his friends, even Amanda, who were all silently encouraging him not to snap back. That was the reaction Kreese’s lawyer was trying to get out of him. Focusing on them made it easier to reign in his emotions. He made it through the trial without exploding once. He was kind of proud of that.

Johnny tried not to look Kreese’s way the whole time, but his gaze darted over to him every once in a while. A bit of smugness wiggled its way into his chest when he noted the growing frustration on Kreese’s face with each glance. Kreese was realizing no matter how good his slimy lawyer was they were losing this case. Too many incidents of his violence and abuse were stacked up against him. His assault on LaRusso marked the end of it all.


	17. Chapter 17

“So,” Bobby said as his gaze swept around the table, “this isn’t awkward at all?”

Johnny glanced around from his spot squished in the middle of the booth. Bobby and Jimmy sat to the right of him. LaRusso sat on his right, and Amanda was on the other side of LaRusso. At a table not far from their booth, the kids were all talking and laughing while they enjoyed their dinner. Johnny smiled a bit to see all of them getting along after all the shit that went down. The only regret was that Robby wasn’t there too.

Then Johnny turned his gaze back onto Bobby. “What would be awkward?”

Bobby’s gaze lingered on LaRusso and Amanda before meeting Johnny’s look. “Uh, well, I mean, there’s no bad blood between them?” He nodded at LaRusso and Amanda then lifted a curious eyebrow.

Johnny patted his friend on the shoulder with a chuckle. “Things might not have ended the best between them, but no, I can say there’s no longer any bad blood between them.”

That night he stayed at Amanda’s house, they talked quite a bit. It hurt Amanda pretty badly when she gave LaRusso the divorce papers, but she confessed to Johnny that she had felt it was coming for a while. Maybe even before Johnny brought Cobra Kai back. How the whole ‘no more karate’ thing was her desperate attempt to keep LaRusso, even though she knew how unhappy he was without karate in his life, though he always tried to act like he was fine without it. But in the end, she knew how miserable they would be if they didn’t end things. She made the hard choice because LaRusso would be too stubborn to walk away.

“And this whole lawsuit thing wouldn’t have happened, or gone off as smoothly as it did, if it wasn’t for Amanda. If nothing else, this dinner should be all about thanking her for everything.”

“As long as Kreese can’t do any more damage to any of us, that’s all the thanks I need,” Amanda said, sipping from her glass.

“I always said you were amazing.” LaRusso smiled.

Bobby leaned in close to him and lowered his voice. “And that’s not awkward to you at all?”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “They were married for a long ass time, and they still care about each other. But,” he shrugged, “I know he cares a lot about me too.”

“You still haven’t told us how this all happened,” Jimmy said. “You two were always at each other’s throats. How did you go from hating each other to being in love?” He lifted an eyebrow, curious but no signs of disgust in his eyes.

When Johnny glanced his way, LaRusso grinned and answered, “He kidnapped me.” He laughed hard at the sputtering responses from Johnny’s friends.

Johnny tried to school his expression, but the smirk kept almost slipping out. “I didn’t kidnap you.”

“Really?” LaRusso leaned an elbow on the table, tucking his hand around his neck with a tilt of his head. “Because it felt a lot like ‘get in the car, we’re going on a random road trip whether you want to or not’ to me.”

“Yeah, but you got in the car willingly, so it wasn’t kidnapping.”

“The crappy motel rooms really sold me on you.”

“Please, the second one was a hotel and a hell of a lot nicer than the first one.”

The others around them laughed.

Amanda let out of a mutter of, “Boys.”

Jimmy nudged Bobby as he asked, “Is this their version of flirting?”

Johnny felt the creep of a flush up his neck while LaRusso grabbed at his soda to take a long gulp, a blush already coloring his cheeks. “Anyway, we did a lot of talking about shit while we were on that trip.” Johnny shrugged. “And I guess the dam just kind of broke and we realized maybe it wasn’t always hate we felt toward each other.”

“We got along pretty well before that, sometimes,” LaRusso added after he set his soda back on the table. “When something didn’t pop up to set us off at each other again.” His gaze flicked down and up Johnny’s body as a grin settled on his face.

Bobby shook his head like the whole thing was completely unbelievable. And it was. Johnny doubted anyone looking at their relationship from the outside would have predicted them hooking up romantically. It was more likely for one or both of them to end up in the ground than it was for them to date.

Then Bobby turned his gaze onto LaRusso. “Hey, man, I still want to say I’m sorry about what-”

LaRusso held up his hand as he shook his head. “I know you didn’t want to do it. And you already apologized after it happened. I probably should have told you I wasn’t mad at you or anything afterward, but,” he shrugged, “it seemed kind of awkward to approach any of you once I got back to school.”

Bobby nodded. “Still, I’m sorry.”

LaRusso smiled, that big, light up the room smile he had. “You’re forgiven.”

Bobby’s shoulders relaxed slightly, the action so subtle it was almost easy to miss it, but it was like decades of tension finally fell away.

“Maybe,” LaRusso picked up a fry and dipped it into a side of ranch, “one of these days we can spar. Maybe actually have a proper fight.” He stuffed the fry into his mouth.

Bobby smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.” His smile fell slightly as he shook his head. “I thought we were pretty cruel back then. I can’t believe all that stuff Kreese and that Silver guy put you through.”

LaRusso grimaced, and Johnny reached over to cover his hand, giving it a squeeze. “At least now, we may have stopped other kids from having those kinds of experiences too.”

“So,” Jimmy said, wiping his hands clean on a napkin, “with Kreese out of the way, are you going to take back Cobra Kai?”

Johnny shook his head, not surprised to see the shock on his friends’ faces. “That place is too tainted at this point. But LaRusso and I have been looking at new locations to open our own place.”

Bobby’s eyebrows shot up. “Dating _and_ opening a dojo together?”

“We thought,” LaRusso exchanged a glance with Johnny, “a combination of our styles could create something great. Of course, it won’t be a simple thing. We’ll have to learn to work together, but we’ve already started thinking up some ideas for lessons.”

“We’ve already taken the biggest step though.” Johnny nodded to the table where the kids sat, and his friends looked over to witness Hawk and Demetri pretending to sword fight with their fries. Sam, Aisha, and Tory were all gathered around one of their phones, and whatever had their attention had them laughing. Miguel and Anthony sat facing each other, both holding up their phones. Johnny wasn’t sure what they were doing, but they looked determined as they concentrated on their phones. Then Anthony let out a whoop of victory while Miguel hung his head in defeat. It was good to see all the kids getting along. “We wouldn’t open the dojo if the kids couldn’t work out their issues.”

Bobby beamed proudly, and Johnny almost felt embarrassed by it. “I think that’s really great.”

“Do you have a name for this new place?” Jimmy asked.

“Not yet.” Johnny cast a glance at LaRusso. “We’ve been trying to think of something that would fit both of us.”

“We still have plenty of time to come up with something.” LaRusso shrugged.

“You did say you used to be called the Karate Kid,” Amanda put in, but LaRusso immediately shook his head with a firm, “No,” earning some chuckles from the others.

“Anyway, King Karate would sound better.” LaRusso smirked, and Johnny rolled his eyes at the old nickname.

“Pretty sure you’re the only one who called me that.” Johnny lifted his beer, pausing with it halfway to his mouth. “And, if we did something like that, it would have to be Karate Kings.”

LaRusso’s brow raised as Johnny drank his beer. “Kings? Did I just get promoted from kid?”

Johnny bumped his elbow into LaRusso, smirking as he heard a snicker from either Jimmy or Bobby. “Pretty sure you haven’t been a kid for a long ass time now.”

“Anyway,” LaRusso pressed forward, the tips of his ears turning red, “we don’t have to think of anything just yet. We still need to pick a location, and then there’s all the work needed to get it up to code, plus all the licensing stuff to deal with.”

“Yes, all that fun stuff you so enjoy doing,” Johnny said, cutting him off before he could get started on the long list of things they still had to do.

LaRusso huffed. “I just want to make sure we don’t have to worry about getting the rug pulled out from under us again.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’m not the smartest when it comes to running a business,” Johnny grumbled, not needing that thrown in his face.

LaRusso leaned on him. “You were pretty good at it, actually. Maybe you let a few too many details slide, but when it came to teaching your kids, you were good.”

“Except for the part where I turned them into bullies?” Johnny met his gaze, and they both frowned at each other.

“Yeah, that part you sucked at.” Daniel shrugged. “But I wasn’t any better.”

“Probably because you’re a stubborn little shit who can’t back down from a fight.”

Daniel’s eyebrow twitched upward. “I think I’ve proven that in the right circumstances I can stop myself from fighting.”

Johnny snorted. “Yeah, but you were still being a stubborn little shit.”

“I can’t tell,” Jimmy whispered, leaning toward Bobby, “if they’re about to start fighting or start kissing.”

“I’m pretty sure the arguing is a form of foreplay for them,” Amanda said with a wicked smirk.

“Amanda!” LaRusso gasped, scandalized, which caused a round of laughter from them.

Johnny smirked, and when LaRusso noticed it, his blush darkened. Then Johnny turned to his friends. “Maybe once we have the dojo up and running, if you stop by sometime, you could show the kids some moves.”

“I could bring the kids next time,” Jimmy said. “They’ll want to meet their Uncle Johnny.”

“I’d like that.” Johnny smiled.

“Speaking of kids, which ones are yours again?” Bobby looked over to the other table.

“The girl with the braid is Samantha,” LaRusso said, “and the boy obsessively playing on his phone is Anthony.”

“The one next to Anthony is Miguel,” Johnny said. “He’s the one that convinced me to reopen Cobra Kai.”

Jimmy flicked his gaze around the kids table then back to Johnny. “What about your son?”

Johnny frowned at the remainder of his dinner. He could sense LaRusso squirming beside him like he wanted to blurt out the answer but realized it wasn’t his place and now struggled to keep his big mouth shut. “He’s still in juvie. But if things go smoothly, he might be getting out soon.”

“Oh.” Jimmy and Bobby both grimaced at that answer.

“But Miguel gave testimony in his case,” LaRusso said hurriedly. “And I think that will work in Robby’s favor.”

“And he’s been on good behavior from what we know,” Johnny said. He wanted to be positive, but it still weighed heavily on him. He wanted Robby home, with him.

Sam bounced over to their table, smiling brightly when the adults looked up to her. “We were thinking about heading back to the house to watch some movies.” Her gaze turned to Amanda. “Is that okay?”

“I guess that’s my cue to call it a night.” Amanda smiled in apology as she slid out of the booth. Sam opened her mouth, probably to argue that they didn’t need parental supervision, but Amanda gave her a sharp look that made Sam snap her mouth shut again. “It was lovely to meet you both.” She reached out to shake their hands, but Bobby and Jimmy got up and hugged her tightly, saying their goodbyes.

When they returned to their seats in the booth, Jimmy watched LaRusso, who was staring after Amanda and the kids as they left the restaurant. “I guess having to share your kids must be pretty tough. I can’t imagine not having my kids home all the time.”

A sad smile flitted across LaRusso face before he lowered his gaze to the pile of fries still on his plate. “I’m pretty used to Anthony not really wanting to be around me.” He shrugged. “Sam comes over sometimes, but I think she’s at that age where she’s more interested in hanging out with her friends than her lame dad.”

“They care,” Johnny assured him in a firm tone. “They were a mess of worry while you were in the hospital. You can’t expect them to want to hang around with you every waking moment of their lives.”

LaRusso rolled his eyes with a sigh. “I know. I guess I’m still not quite used to not living with them all the time.” He leaned back in the booth, tilting his head to lean on Johnny’s shoulder. “And then,” he waved a hand, “in few years, she’ll go off to college.”

“At least you’ve taught her to kick the ass of any guy who tries anything on her.”

LaRusso whacked him on the arm, but there was a hint of smile on his face, his eyes crinkling at the corners. But Johnny could relate to the melancholy in LaRusso’s eyes. He barely had any time with his son, even less of it was happy memories. If he could just have some kind of relationship with Robby, show he could be a good dad, before he disappeared off to college, Johnny would be happy. He just didn’t want Robby to hate him.

Johnny turned to his friends. “You’ll have to come back sometime after Robby’s out so you can meet him.”

“Of course,” Bobby agreed with a smile.

“Like would we miss meeting your son.” Jimmy rolled his eyes.

They stayed at the restaurant for a little while longer, Johnny enjoying catching up with his friends. LaRusso added comments here and there, but it was clear he was starting to drift off. It was a long day with the stress of the trial. After saying bye to his friends, Johnny helped LaRusso into the car. He planted a kiss on LaRusso’s lips then slid the crutches into the back of his car. He climbed into the driver’s seat, and they drove back to LaRusso’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had the final chapter of this finished for a while now, except for that little detail of a dojo name. Really liked the idea of finding something that fit who they are now, but maybe I'll just do something like Cobra-Do or Miyagi Kai.


	18. Chapter 18

Johnny wrapped his hand around LaRusso’s wrist and forced him to lower his hand away from his mouth. LaRusso jerked his head around, and Johnny frowned at him. As always, whenever he felt nervous or stressed about something, LaRusso started chewing on his nails. Johnny might have found the habit cute if it wasn’t for the whole stressed out part.

“You’re always wound so tightly.” Johnny couldn’t help wondering if that was what made LaRusso always ready to fight someone. LaRusso had too much energy bundled up inside him, and fighting was the best outlet he found for it. Johnny smirked inwardly. He enjoyed a good spar, but he could think of other ways to help LaRusso use up all that energy.

LaRusso pulled his arm free, but thankfully, he crossed his arms, instead of going back to biting his nails. “How are you so calm? Don’t you feel nervous? Or excited? Or anything?”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “Of course, I’m nervous. Robby’s finally getting out of juvie. And things have been,” he lifted a shoulder, “better. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be happy about staying with me. Maybe he should stay at your place after all.”

“No.” LaRusso held up a finger, his eyes narrowing with determination. “We agreed. Robby should live with you. He should have been living with you the whole time.”

“And as you pointed out, you had good reason not to tell me about Shannon going to rehab and taking Robby in.”

LaRusso shook his head, his mouth a grim line. “No, I should have told you. Obviously, not with _Kreese_ there.” He ground his teeth as his eyes narrowed. “But I could have told you at any other point in time.”

Johnny sighed, putting an arm around LaRusso’s shoulders. “We can play that game all day long, but it gets exhausting. What happened, happened. We can’t change it now.”

LaRusso’s shoulders slumped, some of the tension melting out of him. “Yeah, okay.” He leaned into Johnny. “I just wish you and Robby had gotten more time to bond with each other.”

“I still have time.” As long as Robby still wanted to give him the chance to be his father. Johnny stared forward. He needed to remind himself not to think so negatively. LaRusso kept trying to encourage positive thinking, but Johnny found it difficult not to trip over bad thoughts here and there.

They stood there silently for nearly half an hour before the doors opened. The guard came out first, holding the door as Robby shuffled out into the daylight. He wore the same clothes he had on when he first entered juvie. He carried nothing with him. If he picked up any belongings while in juvie, he had decided to leave them behind. After walking several steps, Robby finally lifted his head and spotted them. LaRusso pulled away from Johnny, which he thought was stupid since Robby already knew about them. But then LaRusso pushed him forward.

Johnny shifted his weight. His tongue didn’t want to work right, and he couldn’t find the words. Robby stared at him, expectantly. Johnny swallowed. It shouldn’t be this hard to speak to his son. “Hey.” It sounded pathetic in his ears, and Robby merely nodded in response. Johnny clenched his jaw, but he was determined to pushed forward. “We thought, since the food in there probably isn’t that great, maybe we’d take you out for burgers. Or, uh, if there’s something else you’d rather have instead.”

Robby flicked his gaze past him to LaRusso, and Johnny flinched inwardly, hoping the pain from that small action didn’t show on his face. “Sure,” he said, returning his gaze to Johnny. “Burgers sound good.” Then he stepped closer, closing his arms around his father’s waist.

Johnny stood frozen, stunned by something that should be so natural between father and son. Then he hugged Robby back, holding onto him fiercely. He never wanted to let him go again, but after several minutes, Johnny finally pulled back and placed a hand on Robby’s shoulder. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Robby bobbed his head.

When they turned back, Johnny almost laughed at LaRusso, practically bouncing from foot to foot while twisting at the cuff of one sleeve and rolling his lower lip between his teeth. LaRusso seriously couldn’t contain all that nervous energy sometimes. Johnny placed a hand on Robby’s back and gave him a gentle push forward. Robby took the few steps. Then the two were hugging, and Johnny found it hard to be jealous of their relationship when LaRusso’s eyes shone so brightly with happiness. He should consider himself lucky the man he was in a relationship with cared so much about his son. And he was thankful for all the things LaRusso did for Robby. He just hated that he couldn’t have done any of that himself, even if he could admit he wasn’t in the right head space to be the father Robby needed at that time.

They all climbed into the car, and Johnny pulled away from the juvenile detention center. Hopefully, they would never have any reason to return to that place.

“We’ve been talking with the school,” LaRusso announced, turning in the passenger’s seat to look back at Robby. “You’re going to have a lot of make up work to do, and possibly even have to do some summer school classes to get caught up for next year.”

Johnny caught the grimace on Robby’s face in the rearview mirror. “They weren’t too happy about the whole fight, and it took a lot of convincing to get them to let you back in. And you will be attending school. That’s not up for argument. And we will be checking to make sure you’re keeping up with your classes.”

Robby rolled his eyes. “I was actually excited about going to school.” Then he frowned, lowering his gaze to his hands as he picked at his nails. “Before the whole fight happened.”

Johnny nodded. Robby being excited about school was a good thing. “We’ll do whatever we can to help you with making up your school work.” He grimaced, pulling the car into the parking lot at a burger joint. “Though LaRusso might be more help with that.”

LaRusso laughed. “Yeah, I’m thinking Sam and Miguel would be even better help. But we’ll try to help where we can.” He turned a smile back to Robby as Johnny parked the car. “They’re looking forward to seeing you again.”

Robby offered a small, shy smile as he nodded. “I can’t wait to see them too.”

They climbed out of the car then entered the building. There weren’t too many other people there, so they were able to get their burgers fairly quickly and find a booth by the window to sit at and eat. Robby happily dug into his food, taking a large bite out of his double patty cheeseburger. After he managed to swallow the large bite, and gulp down a good amount of his soda, he looked at the two men across from him.

“So, what happened with the whole Kreese situation?” Robby frowned, picking up a few fries and dipping them into the tub of ketchup in the middle of the table. “Is that something I need to worry about when I go back to school?”

LaRusso stiffened next to him and cast a glance at him. Johnny flicked his gaze to LaRusso’s left knee, which was finally out of the brace. He knew LaRusso wanted to wait until they got home to talk about it, but Johnny knew Robby wouldn’t be satisfied with any answer they gave him if it wasn’t the truth. And after everything they went through, the truth was the only answer he wanted to give. Johnny turned to meet Robby’s gaze, growing worried as the two adults stayed silent.

“We took him to trial after he attacked LaRusso at his house,” Johnny said bluntly.

Robby stared at him for a good while, like the words made little sense in his head. Then he jerked his head around to LaRusso, his green eyes widening. Shock and panic splashed across his face. “What?” he shouted, and LaRusso flinched at the loudness of his voice. His mouth thinned as rage pushed out all other emotions. “I knew he was shitty person. I knew it since he came to meet me, wanting to convince me to turn against dad.” His hands curled into fists on the table. “And then he attacks Mr. LaRusso? He really is a sick man.”

LaRusso closed a hand over one of Robby’s fists. “I’m okay now. I’m fine. And he’s never going to do that again.”

“I’m still not happy about it,” Johnny grumbled, ignoring when LaRusso shot a frown at him. “I get why you didn’t fight back.”

“What?” Robby shouted again. “Why would you not fight back? How badly did he hurt you?”

“I was only in the hospital for a little while.” LaRusso gave Robby’s fist a reassuring squeeze. “And I’m fine now. And yes, I get that I might have been stupid.”

“And stubborn,” Johnny added.

LaRusso rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. “Fine. Stupid and stubborn. But he had brought Tory with him when he came to order us to stop meeting with his students. I didn’t want to fight him. We were trying to make them see that we didn’t want this ridiculous war Kreese was trying to keep going. We wanted all of you to start dealing with your issues by talking them out instead of resorting to violence. Kreese wasn’t at all happy about that.” He sighed, leaning back against the booth. “He thinks _I’m_ the one who poisoned Johnny’s way of thinking. So, he beat the shit out of me, and we filed an assault charge against him.”

Robby’s eyes remained wide as he stared at LaRusso. “You took that beating for us?”

LaRusso blinked like Robby’s surprise confused him. “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you kids. Our problems never should have fallen on your shoulders.” He ducked his head as Robby continued to stare at him.

“I just wish Kreese had ended up in prison where he belonged,” Johnny grumbled before ripping a bite out of his burger. That whole situation still left bitterness burning in his chest.

“What?” Robby blinked then turned to Johnny, his brow creasing. “What do you mean? How could he not end up in jail?”

LaRusso sat tensely, glaring darkly at the table. Johnny reached over, resting a hand on his thigh. At the comforting touch, LaRusso relaxed, a little. “His old war buddy.” His mouth pursed as he lifted his head. “Terry Silver is a pretty powerful man. Just a little influence here and there, and he managed to get Kreese out. As far as we know, he’s no longer in town.”

“I went by Cobra Kai earlier,” Johnny said, still furious that these bastards seemed to keep getting away with everything, “and the place looked like it was closed down.”

“Right now, all I care about is the fact that he’s not around to keep poisoning the kids with his twisted ideas,” LaRusso said with a cold, hard edge to his voice. He was just as furious. “And we’ve already talked with the All Valley Sports board. Cobra Kai and John Kreese have a life time ban, so even if Kreese does come back, he won’t be able to enter into the tournament.”

Robby glowered at his food. “But he still gets to walk free after all the shit he did.”

Johnny leaned forward, taking hold of Robby’s hand. “Fuck him.” He held his son’s gaze. “Some assholes are rich and powerful enough, or know the right people, to get them out of the messes they make for themselves. That’s not fair. You’ll find there’s a lot of shit in life that isn’t fair. But don’t let that bitterness fester inside of you. You made a mistake, and you did the time for that mistake. You made up with Miguel after all that shit went down. You are a bigger and stronger man than John Kreese could ever hope to be. You owned your mistake, and that’s all I could ask for. You have a good head on your shoulders, and I know you’re going to do something amazing in the future.”

Robby blinked, slowly digesting everything Johnny said. “You really think that? About my future?”

“Of course!” Johnny grinned. “You’re a smart kid. And if you put all those brains into your school work, you’re going to get into some fancy college. Then you’ll get some awesome job.” He flicked his gaze to LaRusso. “Or start your own business. You have a world of options ahead of you. Just,” he lifted his hand and pointed a finger in Robby’s face, “no more fights unless you absolutely have to defend yourself.”

Robby nodded, stunned into silence.

LaRusso knocked their knees together under the table. Johnny looked over to him, and LaRusso smiled, the admiration shining in his eyes. Johnny’s mouth pulled upward.

“What are the living arrangements now?” Robby lifted a curious eyebrow. “Are we living at Mr. LaRusso’s place? Or at dad’s apartment?”

LaRusso flushed, picking through his fries. “We decided to kind of take things slow, so we’re still living in separate places.”

“Rushing with relationships never worked well for me.” Johnny took a gulp of his soda, and it settled like a cold lump in his gut. “And we thought you could stay with me.” He shifted in the booth, not looking at Robby. “Unless you feel uncomfortable with that.”

“Johnny,” LaRusso said, and Johnny didn’t have to look to know he was frowning.

“I’d like that,” Robby said, and they both jerked their gazes toward him. “If it’s what you really want.”

Johnny stared for a long moment before the smile spread across his face. “I’d really like that.” Robby offered a tentative smile in return.

When they made it back to the apartment, Miguel greeted them, looking like he had waited in the courtyard for them to come back home. There was an awkward moment, which made Johnny feel almost as worried and anxious as LaRusso tended to get when he was stressed.

“Do you think Miguel could come over and watch movies?” Robby asked when he turned to Johnny. He bit at his lip like he worried Johnny would be mad about it.

Johnny smiled, ruffling Robby’s hair. “Of course.”

They entered the apartment, and Johnny was glad LaRusso helped him clean the place up to prepare for Robby coming to live with him. He couldn’t afford nice, fancy furniture, and he refused to let LaRusso pay for everything, but they found a thrift shop with some decent stuff. The couch, at least, was a lot more comfortable, and didn’t have all the beer stains his old couch had.

They were still debating what movie to watch when Sam knocked at the door. Aisha showed up not long after, with Tory in tow. Hawk and Demetri arrived a bit later, and Demetri added the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy to their options of movies to watch. Johnny still voted on _Iron Eagle_ , but the kids out voted him. They popped in the first movie, and the kids settled down to watch. Hawk dragged Demetri onto the recliner with him, the two of them squashed into the tiny space. Miguel, Robby, and Sam took over the couch. Aisha and Tory seemed content to sit on the floor with easy access to a bowl of chips that LaRusso set out while they voted on the movie. Johnny decided he probably needed to spring for one or two more seats if this was going to be a regular thing with the kids. He hoped it would be.

Johnny grabbed a pair of Banquets out of his fridge, sliding one over to LaRusso as they hung out in the kitchen, watching the kids while they talked, laughed, and joked around with each other. LaRusso leaned close to him, pressing their arms from elbow to shoulder together. He smiled when Johnny turned to him.

“This is really nice,” LaRusso said, keeping his voice low. “Having all them hanging out like this. You did good, Johnny.”

Johnny rolled his eyes, reaching over to knock his bottle against LaRusso’s. “I wouldn’t have gotten my shit together if you hadn’t yelled at me.”

LaRusso laughed. “You can always count on me to do that.”

Johnny’s mouth curved upward in a devilishly smirk. Then he leaned in close to whisper in LaRusso’s ear. “I can think of other ways to make you yell. I like when you scream out my name when you-”

“Johnny!” LaRusso shouted, the blush burning across his face to the tips of his ears and down his neck. The shout drew the kids’ attention, which only made LaRusso blush worse while Johnny chuckled into the crook of his neck.

“I guess I should get used to my dad being embarrassing,” Sam mumbled.

The other kids laughed, and Johnny was pretty sure he spied Miguel snapping a picture of them with his phone. Robby smiled as he watched them.

It took them a couple of months to get things ready. His relationship with Robby was improving. They were talking, though sometimes Robby still seemed a little guarded. It hurt when he noticed those moments, but it was to be expected. Their relationship wasn’t perfect, but it was better. Johnny stopped himself from asking Robby to let him teach him a few things in karate. It was something they both had passion for, and it hurt not to be able to share it with his son. When they spent time at LaRusso’s house, Johnny could see LaRusso trying to hold back from teaching Robby in front of him.

“I appreciate you trying not to hurt my feelings,” Johnny said one night when they were relaxing in bed. LaRusso got a nice new, very comfortable mattress, and Johnny more than happily helped him break it in. “But you don’t have to hide that you’re teaching him stuff.”

LaRusso rolled his lip between his teeth, his hand lazily drawing circles over Johnny’s chest. “I think he would be okay if we did some lessons together.” He flicked his gaze up to Johnny. “I mean, we’ll be opening a dojo together, so we’ll be teaching classes with each other sometimes anyway. And I think Robby would like it.”

Johnny stared at him for a long moment then tilted his head forward to catch LaRusso’s mouth in a gentle, languid kiss. LaRusso leaned into it, sliding his hand up from Johnny’s chest to wrap around to the back of his neck. Johnny broke the kiss, smiling. “Sounds like a good idea to me.”

They chose a location for their dojo. It needed a lot of work, but it was nothing Johnny and LaRusso couldn’t handle. They both knew enough about construction and handyman work to be able to do it all by themselves. The kids insisted on helping.

“Following in your sensei’s footsteps with the child labor,” Johnny teased as they were putting up the mirrors along one of the walls.

LaRusso rolled his eyes. “I know for a fact that you had Miguel doing a lot of this shit when you first opened Cobra Kai. And these are good skills for them to learn. Plus, we’re paying them in lunch and dinner every day they help out.”

Johnny smirked. He couldn’t argue with that. He relied on his skills as a handyman for decades. The kids didn’t complain all that much about the hard work.

LaRusso and Amanda made sure everything was in proper order. They had a lease worked out with the landlord, and this time, Johnny didn’t have to worry about his rent going up. They got their dojo name, Miyagi-Kai, copyrighted and made sure everything was squared away for when it came time to sign up to participate in the All Valley tournament. Johnny wanted to laugh at lengths LaRusso was going to, but after their experience with Kreese, he understood why LaRusso was taking as many precautions as he could. Neither of them wanted to lose what they were working so hard to build together.

When the day to open their dojo finally came, Johnny stood with LaRusso at his side. Johnny in his black gi, and LaRusso in his white gi. Only now, the logo on their backs belonged to their combined dojo: LaRusso’s bonsai tree with Johnny’s cobra curled around the tree’s base and rising up behind the tree so only its eyes were seen over the greenery. The kids – their kids, Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do – stood together in lines before them. When his gaze swept over them, he didn’t see hate or anger. He saw only an eagerness to learn from them. Looking to his side, Johnny smiled, and LaRusso returned it. This was how it always should have been, if they had stopped being stupid from the very beginning. It might have taken them a long time to get here, but Johnny wouldn’t give up what he had now for anything.


End file.
